Dozens more Russian protesters were arrested in the third straight day of anti-government demonstrations yesterday, as anger mounted over charges that Vladimir Putin’s ruling party had stolen parliamentary elections.
The new demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg and plans for a massive rally near the Kremlin on Saturday marked the biggest protests in 10 years of rule by Putin and his handpicked ally, Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin’s United Russia party lost a major share of its seats in the State Duma parliament, but demonstrators said it managed to cling to a legislative majority by means of ballot fraud.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, yesterday urged Russian authorities to annul the results of Sunday’s vote and hold a new one.
“More and more people are starting to believe that the election results are not fair,” he told the Interfax news agency. “I believe that ignoring public opinion discredits the authorities and destabilizes the situation.”
But Putin showed no sign of backing down. He took his first step yesterday towards re-election as Russia’s president, registering his candidacy for the March elections.
Putin was president from 2000 until term limits forced him out in 2008. But he became premier, the country’s No. 2 post, from which he overshadowed Medvedev, his successor.
The government continued to mobilize its security forces in a show of strength. Thousands of security officers patrolled in Moscow and helicopters roamed the sky. At least 51,500 police officers and 2,000 paramilitary troops have been deployed in Moscow since the election, authorities say.
In St. Petersburg, demonstrators gathered outside the Gostiny Dvor shopping complex on the city’s main avenue, many chanting “Shame, Shame!” Russian news reports said at least 70 people were detained.
Competing for attention in Moscow was a rally of about 1,000 people at a pro-Putin concert. The crowd of mainly young people waved Russian flags and danced as organizers spoke on a stage adorned with a banner reading “The Future is Ours.”
Someone dressed as a giant white bear — United Russia’s mascot — danced among the crowd. He stopped occasionally to hug supporters — but kept right on dancing when someone ran out of the crowd to kick him in the rear.
Both sides appeared to be girding for a street showdown on Saturday.
More than 17,000 people have signed up on a Facebook page calling for a massive demonstration on Moscow’s Revolution Square, a few hundred yards from the Kremlin.
Authorities have sanctioned the rally, but say it has to be limited to 300 participants, so a far larger turnout would almost certainly provoke a harsh police response. With