Tens of thousands of people came to Russia on Sunday for the second consecutive weekend rally in support of an imprisoned opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny. But where the protesters went, so did the police, finding them in sometimes brutal clashes.
The protests began in the far east of Russia and have spread across the vast nation, although the crowds in some cities appear to be smaller than last weekend. Thousands of protesters attended St. Petersburg, the city of Yekaterinburg, on the Ural Mountains, Novosibirsk in Siberia, Moscow and elsewhere. More than 4,000 people were arrested.
Even before the Russians met, the Kremlin made it clear that the police would be in large numbers. Most police responded with arrests. But early Sunday afternoon, reports of police brutality against protesters surfaced in several cities – including the possible use of electric shock devices in protesters and beatings of others.
In Moscow, more than 1,200 protesters were arrested, according to the activist group OVD-Info. Police closed subway stations and paralyzed much of the city center while fighting to prevent protesters from gathering in one place.
The show of strength – and the Kremlin’s anxiety – in Moscow was unlike anything seen in recent years. “All for one and one for all!” a column of protesters, numbering in the thousands, sang as they marched through the city towards the prison where Navalny was being held.
Protesters spread across the northern part of Moscow city center played an hour of cat and mouse game with riot police in armor and camouflage. Using Twitter and Telegram, Navalny’s supporters directed the protesters further north, towards the city’s main train hub, sending columns of police trucks speeding in that direction.
Navalny’s arrest gave a new focus to the opposition to President Vladimir V. Putin, who remained disparate even as his popularity declined.
Protesters, young and old, appeared in the capital. Among them was Lyudmila Mikhailovna, an 83-year-old retired pediatrician who refused to give her last name. She said she was not a big fan of Navalny. But she watched his video about a palace on the Black Sea that he said was built for Mr. Putin decided to join the protest because “I am for honesty, nothing more.”
Navalny’s return to Russia on January 17 changed the political landscape facing the Kremlin – both at home and abroad. Within the country, Russians dissatisfied with their president suddenly have a clear leader around whom to unite.
The appeal of Navalny’s case to those who do not share his political views is that he is seen as a symbol of the main source of anger that many Russians feel towards the Kremlin: injustice.
The authorities made it clear that a strong police response was coming. In recent days, Navalny’s brother, Oleg Navalny, and Maria Alyokhina, from punk band Pussy Riot, have been placed under house arrest. Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, was among those arrested on Sunday.
Navalny’s allies were not deterred by police presence on Sunday and called for more protests on Tuesday, when Navalny faces a hearing on alleged parole violations related to a six-year embezzlement case that could send him to prison. for many years.