Anti-Putin Opposition Marches Through Moscow in Peaceful Protest

(Bloomberg) — Hundreds of Russians marched through the streets of Moscow in what appeared to be the most peaceful unauthorized rally in a summer of demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin.

The Interior ministry, which usually understates the scope of protest activities, put the number of march participants at 750 people, according to Interfax. No detentions were reported, but there was a heavy police presence on the streets around the march.

The “march against political repression” through the center of the capital took place eight days before Moscow city council elections that have become the focus of a revived opposition movement against Putin. Thousands of people have been detained by riot police at a series of demonstrations called after authorities declined last month to register dozens of opposition and independent candidates for the Sept. 8 vote.

“We have the legal right to do it and we are just obliged to do it, for the sake of the future of our country,” opposition leader Lyubov Sobol said in a video posted on YouTube, urging people to join the march. The demand to allow independent candidates on the ballot “is simple, legal and just,” she said.

Sobol, who went on a month-long hunger strike to protest against the rejection of her candidacy, filmed riot police breaking into her election office to detain her during the last major demonstration on Aug. 10. As many as 60,000 people attended the sanctioned rally that day, the largest anti-Kremlin demonstration since the 2011-2012 wave of unrest against Putin’s return to the presidency after four years as prime minister.

The confrontation between the authorities and the opposition may be the prelude to a more significant struggle over 2021 parliamentary elections. The Kremlin is determined to lock in its control of the lower house of parliament ahead of potentially vital decisions that could extend Putin’s rule beyond the end of his term in 2024.

Several opposition politicians, including Ilya Yashin, remain behind bars after being repeatedly detained for encouraging participation in previous unauthorized protests. Sobol was doused in filth outside her home by an unidentified assailant Thursday after publishing the video announcing plans for the march.

Even as the protest plans seem certain to trigger another round of detentions, the opposition’s most prominent leader, Alexey Navalny, is calling on people to work within the system to break the ruling United Russia party’s grip on the Moscow council.

Navalny, who was released last week after a 30-day prison term he received for urging supporters to attend a July 27 protest, set up a website to encourage “smart voting” in the elections, whereby voters will be directed to back the strongest non-United Russia candidate in any given district.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at [email protected], Michael Winfrey, Rachel Graham

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