Russians Protest Voting Fraud in Large Rallies
Tens of thousands took to the streets across the country on Saturday to protest alleged voting fraud, with observers calling the demonstrations one of the largest in the past decade.
Protesters also called for an end to the rule of Vladimir Putin, who currently holds the role of Prime Minister and would return to the Presidency for a second time were he to win elections next year.
Elections in which the ruling party Russia United held a narrow majority took place on December 4.
Twenty-five thousand gathered in Moscow and dispersed by 6 p.m. local time, according to RIA Novosti. The agency reported several thousand in St. Petersburg and more than 15,000 across 30 other cities.
Former prime minister Mikhail Ksyanov said between 60,000 and 100,000 people come to a rally in Bolotnaya Square across the Moscow River from the Kremlin, according to Reuters.
Demonstrators attend a rally in Bolotnaya square to protest against violations at the parliamentary elections in Moscow December 10, 2011. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of cities across Russia on Saturday to demand an end to Vladimir Putin's rule and complain about alleged election fraud in the biggest show of defiance since he took power more than a decade ago. REUTERS/Anton Golubev
Interior Ministry vehicles block the Red Square during a rally to protest against violations at the parliamentary elections in Moscow December 10, 2011. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov
A protester, who is wearing a mask of Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, attends a sanctioned rally in Bolotnaya square to protest against violations at the parliamentary elections in Moscow December 10, 2011. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
People hold a rally to protest against violations at the parliamentary elections in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk December 10, 2011. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin