adminPolice said they had arrested 300 people including Ilya Yashin, a prominent activist, and Alexei Navalny, an opposition blogger, after the protesters marched towards Lubyanka Square where the headquarters of Russia’s FSB security service is located.
Navalny has won a huge online following for exposing corruption at state-owned firms and he coined a phrase — “Swindlers and thieves” — which has now been taken up by all the opposition.
During the rally, organised mostly through online social networks, protesters chanted “Russia without Putin” and “Putin should be in prison.”
Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker, reporting from the rally, said police locked down the centre of the city after several hours of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police backed by interior ministry forces.
He said protesters had gathered to listen to opposition leaders but many demonstrators ended up clashing with police who had hemmed in rally participants.
Meanwhile, officials said that interior ministry troops were sent to Moscow and the alert level of security forces was increased after the protest.
“They (the troops) have just one aim — to ensure the security of the citizens,” interior ministry forces spokesman Colonel Vasily Panchenkov said.
“The number of troops deployed is determined by the Moscow police,” Panchenkov added, without giving numbers.
Russian News Service radio, citing its listeners, said several trucks filled with troops were heading into the centre of Moscow along the city’s main thoroughfares.
Putin said yesterday that the government needed changes after a 4 March presidential election.
“There will of course be a significant renewal of personnel in the government,” Putin told members of his ruling United Russia party.
After the biggest electoral upset of his 12-year rule, Putin said he would adjust to society’s demands for modernisation. — Al Jazeera.
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