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Russian election: Crowds gather for Moscow protests Russian election: Biggest protests since fall of USSR
(about 2 hours later)
Thousands of protesters have gathered in Moscow in a show of anger over disputed parliamentary polls. Thousands of people have attended the biggest anti-government rally in the Russian capital Moscow since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The opposition says the protest - on an island just south of the Kremlin - could become the largest the country has seen in two decades. As many as 50,000 people gathered on an island near the Kremlin to condemn alleged ballot-rigging in parliamentary elections and demand a re-run.
Smaller rallies have taken place in cities across the country. Other, smaller rallies took place in St Petersburg and other cities.
Protesters allege there was widespread fraud in Sunday's polls - though the ruling United Russia party saw its share of the vote fall sharply. Communists, nationalists and Western-leaning liberals turned out together despite divisions between them.
Hundreds of people have been arrested during anti-Putin protests over the past week, mainly in Moscow and St Petersburg. The protesters allege there was widespread fraud in Sunday's polls though the ruling United Russia party did see its share of the vote fall sharply.
At least 50,000 police and riot troops were deployed in Moscow ahead of Saturday's protests. Demonstrations in the immediate aftermath of the election saw more than 1,000 arrests, mostly in Moscow, and several key protest leaders such as the anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny were jailed.
Authorities have permitted up to 30,000 to attend the demonstration dubbed "For Fair Elections". Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has never experienced popular protests like these before, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow.
Thousands have turned out for rallies in cities across the Urals and Siberia and as far east as Vladivostok. During his decade in power, first as president then prime minister, he has grown used to being seen as Russia's most popular and powerful politician.
But as one of the protesters put it to our correspondent, Russia is changing.
'We are the people'
Police put the number gathering on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square for the "Fair Elections" rally at 25,000 while organisers talked of 100,000.
The protesters have got one demand - for the elections to be held again.The protesters have got one demand - for the elections to be held again.
Nobody believes they were free and fair. Many are also asking that the head of the election commission stands down, and some are going even further and demanding that Vladimir Putin himself resigns.Nobody believes they were free and fair. Many are also asking that the head of the election commission stands down, and some are going even further and demanding that Vladimir Putin himself resigns.
There's a real sense of anger - and although the numbers are not that big in global terms, in Moscow terms this is a very, very significant demonstration.There's a real sense of anger - and although the numbers are not that big in global terms, in Moscow terms this is a very, very significant demonstration.
This number simply haven't come out onto the streets of Moscow since 1990s.This number simply haven't come out onto the streets of Moscow since 1990s.
It should not be underestimated what a significant moment this is.It should not be underestimated what a significant moment this is.
It may not deal a fatal blow to Mr Putin's government, but it is certainly the most severe wake-up call he has received during 12 years in power.It may not deal a fatal blow to Mr Putin's government, but it is certainly the most severe wake-up call he has received during 12 years in power.
'History in the making' The BBC's Daniel Sandford reports from the scene that the number seems to be closer to 50,000, and people continued to rally on the square after hearing the speakers.
Police say at least 25,000 people - among them communists, nationalists and liberals - have thronged in Moscow. A resolution was passed calling for the cancellation of Sunday's election results, new elections, the resignation of electoral commission chief Vladimir Churov, an investigation into the alleged ballot-rigging and the immediate release of arrested protesters.
Authorities permitted the protest on condition the rally was relocated from central Revolution Square to Bolotnaya Square, an island in the Moscow River just south of the Kremlin where access points can be easily controlled. Authorities had permitted the protest on condition the rally was relocated from central Revolution Square to Bolotnaya Square, an island in the Moscow River just south of the Kremlin where access points could be easily controlled.
Hundreds of police are standing by to make sure they do not rally in Revolution Square, though Reuters news agency said hundreds of people had gathered there anyway. Marchers to the rally streamed across a bridge under the walls of the Kremlin walls, past a long line of police.
"This is history in the making for Russia," Reuters quoted a 41-year-old employee in the financial services sector, who gave his name only as Anton, as saying in Revolution Square. Prominent figures at the rally included younger opposition activists like Yevgenia Chirikova, as well as former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister under the late Boris Yeltsin.
"The people are coming out to demand justice for the first time in two decades, justice in the elections." "Our action is peaceful, we hold the most civilised protest on planet," Ms Chirikova told reporters on her way to Bolotnaya.
The BBC's Daniel Sandford in Moscow says in the past week, the city has resembled a police state rather than a democracy. Sergei Mitrokhin of the liberal Yabloko party told the crowd: "Putin and [President Dmitry] Medvedev made a shocking discovery today.
If the protests come even close to expectations, they will shake the 12-year-long political domination of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, he says. "Russia has people. We are the people."
The authorities permitted demonstrations to take place in specific locations in certain cities after negotiations with opposition leaders. At least 50,000 police and riot troops were deployed in Moscow ahead of Saturday's protests and the city began to resemble a police state rather than a democracy, Daniel Sandford says.
In St Petersburg, 13,000 people have pledged on the social networking site Vkontakte to take part in protests, with another 20,000 saying they might take part. There were no immediate reports of protest-related arrests in Moscow but police in Kurgan, on the border with Kazakhstan, dispersed an unapproved rally.
The BBC's Richard Galpin has seen scuffles in the city between demonstrators and police, with some protesters dragged away. Demonstrations were held from Vladivostok in the far east to Perm in the Urals, from Arkhangelsk in the Arctic north to Kaliningrad in the far west.
Authorities have granted permission for a demonstration in one location, but say protests anywhere else will be illegal and will be dealt with. In St Petersburg, Russia's second city, thousands packed into Pionerskaya Square to hear speeches calling for the election to be re-run and for Mr Putin to resign, the BBC's Richard Galpin reports.
Earlier in Vladivostok, seven time zones to the east of Moscow, several hundred people marched. At least 20 people were detained following a protest in the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk, local news agencies said. The protest was peaceful and well organised though some protesters were dragged away by police.
The official results of the elections to Russia's Duma showed that the ruling United Russia party saw its share of the vote fall from 64% to 49%, though it remained easily the biggest party. One student organiser who had never taken part in protests before said people could not tolerate what he said was the massive falsification of the parliamentary election.
But there is a widespread view, fuelled by mobile phone videos and accounts on internet social networking sites, that there was wholesale election fraud and that Mr Putin's party cheated its way to victory, our correspondent says. Police put the turnout in the city at 10,000.
In Vladivostok, seven time zones to the east of Moscow, several hundred people marched.
Advice to Medvedev
According to the official results of the elections to Russia's Duma, United Russia saw its share of the vote fall from 64% to 49%, though it remains easily the biggest party.
But there is a widespread view, fuelled by mobile phone videos and accounts on internet social networking sites, that there was wholesale election fraud and that Mr Putin's party cheated its way to victory.
On Friday, the presidential Council for Human Rights advising Mr Medvedev said the reports of vote-rigging were of deep concern, and that the elections should be rerun if they were confirmed.On Friday, the presidential Council for Human Rights advising Mr Medvedev said the reports of vote-rigging were of deep concern, and that the elections should be rerun if they were confirmed.
However the council has no power to order a fresh ballot, correspondents say.However the council has no power to order a fresh ballot, correspondents say.
Earlier this week, security experts said attempts had been made to counter online dissent in Russia, with hijacked PCs being used to drown out online chat on Twitter.
Analysis of the many pro-Kremlin messages posted to some discussions suggested they were sent by machines, according to security firm Trend Micro.
Momentum
These are the most significant street protests against Mr Putin since he took power, our correspondent says - but at this point they are not drawing the big numbers they would need to really put the Kremlin in trouble.
It will be a question of seeing whether the momentum builds and spreads from the metropolitan middle classes.
Even so, our correspondent adds, it is an extraordinary thing to witness Mr Putin under fire like this.
Mr Putin, who was president between 2000 and 2008, remains widely predicted to win a presidential election in March.Mr Putin, who was president between 2000 and 2008, remains widely predicted to win a presidential election in March.
On Thursday, he blamed the US for stoking the recent unrest, after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressed reservations over the poll.On Thursday, he blamed the US for stoking the recent unrest, after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressed reservations over the poll.
The prime minister said Mrs Clinton's remarks had "set the tone for some opposition activists".The prime minister said Mrs Clinton's remarks had "set the tone for some opposition activists".
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