Pan Russian protests being held in support of an opposition leader’s appeal for a boycott of an upcoming presidential election, and the demand that President Vladimir Putin resign.
Demonstrators turned out on Sunday in cities such as the capital, Moscow, the second-largest city of Saint Petersburg, and Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.
Protesters responded to an appeal by opposition party leader Alexei Navalny after he was disqualified from running in the election scheduled for March.
Local media reports say at least 5,000 people took part nearly 1,000 protesters gathered in a central Moscow square. They shouted, “Boycott the election,” and “Make Russia Putin-free.”
Participants were of the view, there have been no fair elections in Russia as Putin has made sure that he will have no contenders in the race.
A government-affiliated polling agency, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, says at least 70 percent of those polled said they will vote for Putin. The figure suggests he is certain to be re-elected. In-spite of the positive poll results, the Putin administration appears to be nervous about opposition activities.
Aithorites mobilized a large number of security troops to disperse the protesters and arrested Alexei Navalny along with his supporters as reports from BBC for disrupting public order by calling for demonstrations. Media agencies
