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| Navalny Arrested as Anti-Kremlin Protests Roll Across Russia | Navalny Arrested as Anti-Kremlin Protests Roll Across Russia |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MOSCOW — A wave of antigovernment demonstrations rolled across Russia on Monday as people gathered in scores of cities to protest against corruption and political stagnation despite vigorous attempts by the authorities to thwart or ban the rallies. | |
| The police detained the architect of the national protests, the Kremlin critic Aleksei A. Navalny, as he emerged from his apartment building to attend a rally that he had forced into the center of Moscow in the face of efforts by the city to limit it to a secondary boulevard. There were scattered reports of detentions elsewhere, too. | |
| Mr. Navalny’s wife posted a picture of the detention on his Twitter account with the ironic caption “Happy Russia Day!” — referring to the national holiday on Monday. In addition, workers at his headquarters reported that their electricity and internet connection, used to transmit updates from around the country, had been severed. | |
| Organizers in more than 200 cities across Russia had filed requests to hold demonstrations in what could be the largest antigovernment outpouring in years. Protests unfolded in numerous cities as the sun moved westward, even in some where they had been banned outright. | |
| In the eastern city of Kazan, for example, a permit was for 7 a.m., a markedly early hour in a country that generally gets going around 10 a.m. The authorities had told organizers that anything later in the day would interfere with a major soccer match. Protesters showed up anyway. | In the eastern city of Kazan, for example, a permit was for 7 a.m., a markedly early hour in a country that generally gets going around 10 a.m. The authorities had told organizers that anything later in the day would interfere with a major soccer match. Protesters showed up anyway. |
| In Moscow, Mr. Navalny set the stage for a confrontation with the police by insisting that demonstrators ignore the officially sanctioned venue and gather instead on Tverskaya Street, the main boulevard leading toward the Kremlin and Red Square. | In Moscow, Mr. Navalny set the stage for a confrontation with the police by insisting that demonstrators ignore the officially sanctioned venue and gather instead on Tverskaya Street, the main boulevard leading toward the Kremlin and Red Square. |
| Among other issues, Mr. Navalny has accused the city of trying to undermine the demonstration in the capital by blocking rental agencies from providing sound equipment. | Among other issues, Mr. Navalny has accused the city of trying to undermine the demonstration in the capital by blocking rental agencies from providing sound equipment. |
| To mark Russia Day, Red Square was scheduled to host historical re-enactments of various Russian military and other achievements across the centuries. On Sunday night, the end of Tverskaya Street near the Ritz Carlton Hotel had been shut off by a wall of sandbags and tank traps that were officially part of a re-enactment, but that conveniently also blocked protesters from mingling with visitors to the Russia Day celebrations. | |
| The police issued a statement on Monday warning that officers would stop “any threat to public order,” though there were reports that the city had relented at the last minute and agreed to allow the protest march on the main boulevard. | The police issued a statement on Monday warning that officers would stop “any threat to public order,” though there were reports that the city had relented at the last minute and agreed to allow the protest march on the main boulevard. |
| Some commentators on social media joked that moving the protest to Tverskaya Street meant that the re-enactment would be of the 1917 civil war. | Some commentators on social media joked that moving the protest to Tverskaya Street meant that the re-enactment would be of the 1917 civil war. |
| Mr. Navalny has said repeatedly that the demonstrations should be nonviolent. Protesting “doesn’t mean there will be an awful revolution or a civil war,” he said on his YouTube talk show on June 1. “We will live better, because they will stop stealing from us,” he said. | Mr. Navalny has said repeatedly that the demonstrations should be nonviolent. Protesting “doesn’t mean there will be an awful revolution or a civil war,” he said on his YouTube talk show on June 1. “We will live better, because they will stop stealing from us,” he said. |
| The latest confrontation between Mr. Navalny and the Kremlin began on March 2, when the 41-year-old opposition leader released a video depicting Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev as the crooked beneficiary of palaces, yachts, vineyards and other luxuries paid for by some of Russia’s richest tycoons and disguised as charity holdings. | The latest confrontation between Mr. Navalny and the Kremlin began on March 2, when the 41-year-old opposition leader released a video depicting Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev as the crooked beneficiary of palaces, yachts, vineyards and other luxuries paid for by some of Russia’s richest tycoons and disguised as charity holdings. |
| “People understand very well the connection between corruption and property,” Mr. Navalny said in an interview this month. “The main driver of people coming out in the regions is poverty, the constant worsening of the standard of living.” | “People understand very well the connection between corruption and property,” Mr. Navalny said in an interview this month. “The main driver of people coming out in the regions is poverty, the constant worsening of the standard of living.” |
| Mr. Navalny urged potential protesters not to fear arrest, saying time in jail was worth the effort — Mr. Navalny himself was detained for 15 days after a protest on March 26, which was part of the biggest set of political demonstrations seen in Russia for years, with participants marching in more than 80 cities. “They cannot put everyone in prison” has become one of his mantras. | Mr. Navalny urged potential protesters not to fear arrest, saying time in jail was worth the effort — Mr. Navalny himself was detained for 15 days after a protest on March 26, which was part of the biggest set of political demonstrations seen in Russia for years, with participants marching in more than 80 cities. “They cannot put everyone in prison” has become one of his mantras. |
| Officially, the protest is against corruption, but it is also an effort by Mr. Navalny to force the Kremlin to let him stand against President Vladimir V. Putin in the March 2018 presidential election, even if he stands virtually zero chance of unseating the president. A felony conviction, which Mr. Navalny has called politically motivated, technically bars him from running. | |
| On Monday, there were scattered reports of detentions in various cities. | On Monday, there were scattered reports of detentions in various cities. |
| In Vladivostok, home to Russia’s Pacific Fleet, at least 11 protesters were detained, according to OVD-Info, a Russia group that monitors arrests. An independent news website in the city, VL.RU, put the number “around 20.” | In Vladivostok, home to Russia’s Pacific Fleet, at least 11 protesters were detained, according to OVD-Info, a Russia group that monitors arrests. An independent news website in the city, VL.RU, put the number “around 20.” |
| The crowd of hundreds, while constituting only a tiny portion of the city’s population of 600,000, signaled defiance against the authorities, who mobilized burly Cossacks in camouflage uniforms and various police units to deter protesters from gathering in a central square opposite the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway. | The crowd of hundreds, while constituting only a tiny portion of the city’s population of 600,000, signaled defiance against the authorities, who mobilized burly Cossacks in camouflage uniforms and various police units to deter protesters from gathering in a central square opposite the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway. |
| After gathering in the square to chant against corruption and to wave copies of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and assembly, the demonstrators paraded through narrow streets with Russian flags to an esplanade overlooking the ocean. | After gathering in the square to chant against corruption and to wave copies of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and assembly, the demonstrators paraded through narrow streets with Russian flags to an esplanade overlooking the ocean. |
| “Russia without Putin,” they shouted, while one protest banner said “Power must be changeable,” a reference to tightly controlled elections that mostly consolidate the power of Mr. Putin and his allies. | “Russia without Putin,” they shouted, while one protest banner said “Power must be changeable,” a reference to tightly controlled elections that mostly consolidate the power of Mr. Putin and his allies. |
| The rally broke up after riot police plunged into the crowd and dragged away several protesters. | The rally broke up after riot police plunged into the crowd and dragged away several protesters. |
| The authorities in the city had rejected a request from protest organizers to gather in the square by the station, saying that it had already been booked by Cossacks, descendants of the fierce horsemen who secured the frontiers of the Russian Empire under the czar. In an unsubtle hint, the Cossacks who gathered put on a display of how to smash eggs with a horsewhip. | The authorities in the city had rejected a request from protest organizers to gather in the square by the station, saying that it had already been booked by Cossacks, descendants of the fierce horsemen who secured the frontiers of the Russian Empire under the czar. In an unsubtle hint, the Cossacks who gathered put on a display of how to smash eggs with a horsewhip. |
| Yuri Kuchin, an organizer of the Vladivostok protest, said he was detained by the police on Monday morning to prevent him from participating, before being released and then detained again until late afternoon. He said he had been fined the equivalent of about $350 for organizing an illegal event. Mr. Kuchin had said in an earlier interview that the Cossack event had been orchestrated by the local government as a ruse to keep Mr. Navalny’s supporters from gathering. | Yuri Kuchin, an organizer of the Vladivostok protest, said he was detained by the police on Monday morning to prevent him from participating, before being released and then detained again until late afternoon. He said he had been fined the equivalent of about $350 for organizing an illegal event. Mr. Kuchin had said in an earlier interview that the Cossack event had been orchestrated by the local government as a ruse to keep Mr. Navalny’s supporters from gathering. |
| “They have put us all under tremendous pressure,” he said, complaining that local officials in places like Vladivostok were particularly zealous because they wanted to prove their loyalty to the Kremlin and because they feared being punished if dissent against Mr. Putin sprouted too openly. | “They have put us all under tremendous pressure,” he said, complaining that local officials in places like Vladivostok were particularly zealous because they wanted to prove their loyalty to the Kremlin and because they feared being punished if dissent against Mr. Putin sprouted too openly. |
| As was the case during the day of nationwide protests called by Mr. Navalny in March, the demonstrators who turned up in Vladivostok were mostly young people, members of a generation that has known nothing but the 17-year rule of Mr. Putin. | As was the case during the day of nationwide protests called by Mr. Navalny in March, the demonstrators who turned up in Vladivostok were mostly young people, members of a generation that has known nothing but the 17-year rule of Mr. Putin. |
| “I am here for my future,” said a 22-year-old protester who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. “The Cossacks can stand up for their own future, but I want to defend mine,” he added, waving a big Russian flag. | “I am here for my future,” said a 22-year-old protester who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. “The Cossacks can stand up for their own future, but I want to defend mine,” he added, waving a big Russian flag. |