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Agence France-Presse

Russian opposition activists held small one-man protests in Moscow on Saturday to demand free elections, as the wave of the Russian capital’s larger demonstrations took a breather this weekend.
In a move to circumvent restrictions by the authorities, activists took turns to hold protest signs as such demonstrations do not technically need approval.
The protests, held at several locations in central Moscow, were a far cry from the wave of rallies in which tens of thousands took to the streets after opposition figures were banned from local elections a month ago.
The previous rallies, which have taken place every Saturday since the ruling, are the biggest since mass protests broke out in 2011 against President Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin after a term as prime minister.
Thousands rally in Moscow for fair elections after crackdown
Police have come down hard on the demonstrations, which have tapped into wider anger over declining living standards and a stalling economy.
Some 3,000 people have been arrested for taking part and prominent members of the opposition, including top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, remain behind bars.

Though a heavy police presence was seen in central Moscow earlier in the day, police steered clear of the activists.
At previous events police have used batons against protesters and grabbed people from the streets indiscriminately.
Earlier, around 4,000 people took part in an approved Communist Party rally for free elections, according to independent monitors.
The Communists are tolerated by the Kremlin and its veteran leader Gennady Zyuganov has said the party will not support the liberal opposition’s protest.
Many protesters came to the Communist rally with red Soviet flags. Many were middle-aged, some years older than those in the opposition rallies.
Prosecutors have launched criminal cases against about a dozen protesters for “mass unrest”, with potential prison sentences of up to eight years.
Putin’s 20 years on the global stage
They stand accused of offences, including throwing plastic water bottles at officers.
The Moscow city hall elections set for September 8 were, until last month, a relatively minor event on Russia’s political calendar.
But the issue blew up after election authorities refused to register various opposition candidates over alleged violations including faking the signatures needed to qualify.
Local polls are a rare opportunity for dissenting voices to participate in political life as anti-Kremlin parties have been squeezed out of parliament over Putin’s two decades in power.
The Kremlin commented on the month-long protests for the first time this week, seeking to play down the significance of the rallies.

“We do not agree with those who call what is happening a political crisis,” said Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who defended an “absolutely justified” police response.
Video of a policeman punching a woman in the stomach as she was being detained after a sanctioned protest last week went viral. The interior ministry said it was opening an investigation.
Russian political scientist Ekaterina Shulmann said the cases against participants were “making people angry – they are broadly perceived as unjust and disproportionately cruel”.
While they have a “terrorising effect in the sense that people may be afraid to get out on the streets, at the same time they strengthen the protest mood because they are so blatantly unfair,” she said.

Independent analyst Masha Lipman said the protests were now more “emotional” than political.
“The protest movement is politically weak, there’s no clear goal,” she said, adding that many were “outraged” by the repressive actions of authorities.
Popular figures such as rapper Oxxxymiron and YouTube star Yury Dud have come out in support of the demonstrations, urging their fans and followers to go to sanctioned rallies.
Moscow has accused foreign governments and media of backing the protests, and next week Russian lawmakers will hold a special session to discuss the alleged “meddling”.
Meanwhile, authorities have upped the pressure on the opposition, focusing on Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation, which publishes investigations of officials close to Putin.
Investigators have raided the foundation’s office as part of a probe into alleged money laundering and a court froze the organisation’s accounts.


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Russia

One-man protests in Moscow as Russian opposition demands fair elections

In a move to circumvent restrictions by the authorities, activists took turns to hold protest signs as such demonstrations do not technically need approval. Photo: Reuters

People dance as the communist party supporters wave red flags during a protest in the center of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. People rallied Saturday against the exclusion of some city council candidates from Moscow's upcoming election. (AP Photo)

Russian Communist Party members and supporters attend a protest rally against the exclusion of some city council candidates from Moscow's upcoming election in central Moscow on August 17, 2019. - Moscow was set for fresh protests on August 17, the latest in a wave of demonstrations that has seen tens of thousands take to the streets after opposition figures were banned from local elections a month ago. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Communist party supporters wave red flags during a protest in the center of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. People rallied Saturday against the exclusion of some city council candidates from Moscow's upcoming election. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

People rallied against the exclusion of some city council candidates from Moscow's upcoming election. Photo: AP

Thousands rally in Moscow for fair elections after opposition crackdown

Protesters attend a rally in Moscow. Photo: AFP

Protesters holds a poster reading "Free (jailed student) Kirill Zhukov!" during a rally in central Moscow on August 10, 2019 after mass police detentions. - Thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Moscow on August 10 after mass police detentions at recent protests that have been among the largest since President's return to the Kremlin in 2012. On a rainy afternoon, protesters huddled under umbrellas on the central Prospekt Andreya Sakharova street, where city authorities had given permission for the rally to take place. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP)

Participants attend a rally to demand authorities allow opposition candidates to run in the upcoming local election in Moscow, Russia August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Protesters attend a rally in central Moscow on August 10, 2019 after mass police detentions. - Thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Moscow on August 10 after mass police detentions at recent protests that have been among the largest since President's return to the Kremlin in 2012. On a rainy afternoon, protesters huddled under umbrellas on the central Prospekt Andreya Sakharova street, where city authorities had given permission for the rally to take place. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP)

Russia: Vladimir Putin’s 20 years on the global stage

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a pistol during his visit to a newly-built headquarters of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Department (GRU) in Moscow in 2006. File photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 06, 2000 Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) wears a navy officer's uniform while watching the tactical exercises of the Northern Fleet in the Barentsevo Sea from the "Karelia" nuclear submarine. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by - / POOL / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) takes part in a judo training session during a meeting with Russian national judo team in Moscow on January 8, 2016. / AFP / SPUTNIK / ALEKSEY NIKOLSKY

(FILES) In this file photo taken on July 24, 2010 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides Harley Davidson Lehman Trike as he leaves the meeting with motorbikers at their camp at Gasfort Lake near Sevastopol in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO / POOL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 16, 2005 Russian President Vladimir Putin poses for a picture inside the Tupolev-160 strategic bomber jet at the Olenogorsk military airport, near Murmansk. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by VLADIMIR RADIONOV / ITAR-TASS / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 19, 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin looks through the scope as he shoots a Chukavin sniper rifle (SVC-380) during a visit to the military Patriot Park in Kubinka, outside Moscow. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 30, 2015 Russia’s President Vladimir Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 19, 1999 Russian President Boris Yeltsin (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow's Kremlin. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by Elmira KOZHAYEVA / ITAR-TASS POOL / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 05, 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin swims the butterfly during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by ALEXEY DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 03, 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by ALEXEY DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre, sits on board a bathyscaphe as it plunges into the Black sea along the coast of Sevastopol, Crimea, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. President Vladimir Putin plunged into the Black Sea to see the wreckage of a sunk ancient merchant ship which was found in the end of May. (Alexei Nikolsky/RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 16, 2015 Russia's President Vladimir Putin smiles during an ice hockey match as part of the Night Hockey league tournament in Sochi. - Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2005. File photo: AFP

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The protests were a far cry from the wave of rallies in which thousands took to the streets after opposition figures were banned from local elections
Prosecutors have launched criminal cases against about a dozen protesters for ‘mass unrest’



The protests were a far cry from the wave of rallies in which thousands took to the streets after opposition figures were banned from local elections.


Vladimir Putin