Protesters across Russia defied orders not to hold unauthorized protests and met across Russia amid a crackdown on dissidents on Sunday.
Why it matters: The arrest of opposition leader Alexey Navalny brought together Russians of various backgrounds, including those who are against his policy, to protest President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian leadership, according to the New York Times. They are meeting despite the police arresting thousands of protesters last week.
Riot police at an unauthorized demonstration in Vladivostok. The sociologist at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, Konstantin Gaaze, told the NYT: “Navalny started, for the first time, a Russian protest movement against the president.” Photo: Yuri Smityuk / TASS via Getty ImagesA police officer detains a protester during an unauthorized protest in support of Navalny in the Far East city of Yakutsk in the Republic of Sakha. Photo: Vadim Skryabin / TASS via Getty ImagesMoscow police officers stand guard outside the Chistye Prudy metro station, ahead of a planned unauthorized rally. Authorities closed stations and restricted movement in the city, notes the BBC. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP via Getty ImagesProtesters and police in Yakutsk, where temperatures reached -39 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo: Vadim Skryabin / TASS via Getty ImageThe riot police detain a protester in Novosibirsk. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar TASS via Getty ImagesThe scene in St. Petersburg before an unauthorized rally in the port city. Photo: Alexander Demianchuk / TASS via Getty ImagesPolice officers detain a protester during an unauthorized protest in Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains. Photo: Donat Sorokin / TASS via Getty ImagesNovosibirsk police arrest protesters. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar / TASS via Getty ImagesVladivostok police officers arrest a protester. Photo: Yuri Smityuk / TASS via Getty Images
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Editor’s note: this article has been updated with more photos.
