Moscow protest for Alexei Navalny spreads after police plan backfires
- Police close subway stations, use fencing to block protesters from reaching planned meeting place near FSB headquarters
- The police action led organisers to point supporters to new meeting points, using a messaging app
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Russian police detains thousands of Navalny supporters during protests from Moscow to Vladivostok
The Moscow police plan to stifle an opposition protest by clamping down on the centre of the city backfired – not only did the massive demonstration take place, but it was spread throughout a wide swathe of the city.
Moscow police always come out strong for unauthorised protest gatherings, but the plan for Sunday’s demonstration demanding freedom for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny was especially anathema symbolically.
It was to start on Lubyanka Square, where the Federal Security Service that Navalny accuses of poisoning him is headquartered, then march a half-kilometre to the presidential administration building, about as close to the levers of power that a protester could get without breaching the Kremlin’s walls.
Police responded to the provocative plan by closing seven subway stations in the vicinity and restricting pedestrian traffic in a large trapezoid from Red Square to Lubyanka, an area that contains many tourist sights and some of the city’s best shopping.
On Sunday, journalists were able to reach Lubyanka, but few people who looked like potential protesters could get there. An hour before the action was to start, Navalny’s team told protesters via a messaging app to head to two still-open subway stations.
After police detained some protesters and drove others away from the stations, the Navalny team told people to go to the square fronted by three of the city’s long-distance train stations. More detentions took place on the square and its fringes.
Thereafter, the throngs set out for the Matrosskaya Tishina jail, where Navalny is held. Once repelled by police there, many headed back to the stations area.