Protests on eve of Putin return

presidential term after his four-year stint as prime minister.
Those arrested included three key leaders of the nascent protest movement against Putin — the anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, liberal leader Boris Nemtsov and ultra-left wing activist Sergei Udaltsov.
Police said they detained over 250 people after demonstrators threw stones and water bottles at officers and blamed the violence on opposition leaders who attempted to stage a sit-in protest in the middle of the crowd.
The event had been billed as a “March of Millions” along one of Moscow’s main thoroughfares that was due to conclude at a square used for the first of several mass protests that erupted against Putin’s dominant rule this winter.
Organisers said the demonstration drew tens of thousands of people although police gave a much lower figure of 8 000.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Putin’s supporters gathered for a festive “celebration” filled with high-production pop concerts at Victory Park — a site dedicated to Russia’s 1812 defeat of Napoleon.
The police said 30 000 had come out for the pro-Putin event — more than three times the figure they gave the opposition protest.
The entire transition from outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev to his mentor has been tightly scripted from the moment their intended job swap was revealed to the public last year.
The plan will see Medvedev visit parliament only hours after Putin’s swearing-in ceremony to begin consultations that could see his candidacy for the premiership approved by tomorrow evening. — RIA Novosti-AFP.