Russian police arrest Navalny at anti-Putin protest as thousands rally

Russian police on Sunday detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny at a rally in Moscow which he had called to protest upcoming polls expected to extend Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin term to 2024.

Surrounded by supporters, the 41-year-old chanted “Swindlers and thieves” before being detained by police shortly afterwards at an unsanctioned gathering in the city centre amid heavy police presence.

“I have been detained,” Navalny tweeted. “This means nothing. Come to Tverskaya (Avenue),” he said, referring to Moscow’s main thoroughfare.

“You are not rallying for me, but for yourselves and your future.”

Heeding a call by President Putin’s bete noire, thousands rallied in dozens of cities to protest upcoming “pseudo-elections,” with many chanting and brandishing placards saying “Voters’ strike.”

Several thousand turned up for the rally in Moscow where authorities dramatically beefed up security, dispatching police vans and passenger buses to the city centre.

Around 90 people were detained across the country, according to OVD-Info, an independent group which monitors crackdowns on demonstrations.

“These are not elections because we already know the result. I will not go and vote,” Elena Ruzhe, 62, said in central Moscow.

“I’m not scared to protest,” said the former culture ministry worker.

Protester Alexandra Fedorova, who wore a fur coat, said it was wrong not to let Navalny take part in the vote.

“I don’t see a future. There is nobody to vote for,” the 27-year-old said.

"No election? No to elections," a placard being held by one young man read. Other protesters waved Russian flags or red and white placards calling for a boycott.

"We don't yet have the right to vote," Masha, 16, who declined to give her surname, told Reuters. "But we need to think about the future and we want to live in a country where there will be honest elections."

Yevgeny Roizman, the city's opposition-minded mayor, said he backed a boycott. "When you see injustice and lies and you can't change the situation you can at least not take part in it."

Navalny's supporters said they expected thousands of people to take part in similar demonstrations in 118 towns and cities.

"Your own life is at stake," Navalny said in a pre-protest video. "How many more years to do you want to live with these thieves, bigots and creeps?"

It was unclear where Navalny was, but a group of police officers was stationed near his home. Navalny said he planned to attend the Moscow protest later on Sunday.

Possible violence

Police warned beforehand they would harshly suppress any illegal protest activity and authorities refused to authorise events in Moscow and St Petersburg, the country's two biggest cities, raising the possibility of clashes.

A Reuters reporter saw a heavy police presence in central Moscow ahead of the protest, with a command centre and buses filled with policemen parked on side streets.

Navalny, a lawyer who has campaigned against official corruption, was barred from running for the presidency by the central election commission in December over what he said was a trumped-up suspended prison sentence.

The United States and the EU criticised the decision.

Putin, who has dominated the Russian political landscape for nearly two decades, described U.S. criticism of the election commission's decision as crude interference in Russia's internal affairs and suggested Navalny was Washington's pick for the presidency.

Polls show Navalny had scant chance of beating Putin, but Navalny says the system is rigged against political opponents like himself which makes polls meaningless.