Monday night, Russia deployed tens of thousands of police officers to handle protests against Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party. Confrontations between police and demonstrators became so heated, the AP reports fire bombs were used.
From the Washington Post:
MOSCOW — Thousands of people gathered in this capital Monday night to protest Sunday’s surprisingly controversial parliamentary elections, shouting “Russia Without Putin” and “We Need New Elections.”
The Interior Ministry had brought more than 50,000 troops into Moscow for the election weekend, and they remained on the alert. Some took up posts around locations where demonstrations are usually held.
Popular blogger Alexey Navalny was arrested with nearly other 300 people around Chistye Prudy, a park and metro station. From the riot police van, he tweeted an image of a crowd of men grinning. Navalny wrote, “I sit with the boys on the riot police bus. They all convey greetings.”
The police put the number of people at the Chistye Prudy protest Monday at 700, but reporters estimated that there were at least 5,000 people there.
They came both to show their fatigue with Prime Minister Vladi mir Putin and his United Russia Party and to protest against election misconduct — independent monitors reported lots of ballot stuffing and other violations.
Read the full story here.
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