Photography
The protests began in subzero cold in Russia’s far east on Saturday and spread west across the time zones as people awoke: Siberian towns, industrial cities in the Urals and onto central Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Anton Vaganov/Reuters
Tens of thousands of people in nearly 70 cities and towns heeded a call by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for a show of solidarity — and a powerful message of defiance against President Vladimir Putin.
Anton Vaganov/Reuters
Law enforcement officers detain a man in Moscow.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Protests took place in dozens of cities, including Moscow.
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
A woman is detained in Moscow.
Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
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Reuters
A protester holds a poster that says "One for all and all for one" in St. Petersburg.
Anatoly Maltsev/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Anatoly Maltsev/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
“Putin is a thief,” some chanted in Moscow.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
More than 2,700 people were arrested across the country. A rights monitoring group, group OVD-Info, said it the was the largest single-day total of arrests since it began tracking Russian security forces in 2011.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
On Jan. 17, Navalny returned to Russia from Germany, where he recovered from a nerve agent poisoning in August during a trip to Siberia — an attack he alleges was ordered by Putin. The Kremlin denies any role. Navalny was arrested shortly after stepping off the plane.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
People in Moscow call for Navalny's release.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images
The swift crackdowns underscored the pressure facing Russian authorities who must decide whether to keep Navalny behind bars.
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Protesters in Moscow.
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Police detain a protester in Moscow.
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Some protesters tried to reach the compound where Navalny is held. Throughout the day in Moscow, the sound of cars honking in support regularly prompted cheers from the crowd. One taxi driver rolled down his passenger side window to take a video while stopped at an intersection.
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
When riot police attempted to corral the protesters around a monument to poet Alexander Pushkin, some pushed back. Later, when the crowd thinned, some protesters constructed snowmen, adorning them with “Free Navalny” signs.
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Police and protesters clash in St. Petersburg.
Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
Police stand guard during a protest in the Siberian city of Omsk.
AP/AP
AP/AP