The unauthorised rally in Moscow was called by the Communist Party. Among the parliamentarians‘ demands were a recount of votes cast online, which the opposition claims were systematically falsified.

Putin dismissed the accusations of fraud on Saturday, especially the ones about online votes, saying that reservations about electronic voting had only arisen “because someone did not like the result.”

In Moscow, online voting results had tipped the balance in favour of United Russia, but were announced only after paper votes were counted despite theoretically being available the moment polls closed.

The protest at Puskhin Square attracted a heavy police presence, with barriers erected and prisoner transport vehicles standing ready.

Officers played music over loudspeakers to drown out the speeches made by speakers at the protest. The authorities had earlier issued a warning against taking part in unauthorised protests.

However, unlike at the large-scale protests in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny earlier this year, there were no reports of widespread detentions; however, protest monitoring group OVD-Info later said that one participant was detained near Red Square.

Police estimated the protest attracted 400 participants, while independent observers put the number closer to 1,000.

Hundreds of Moscow residents responded to a similar call for protests by the Communists last Monday.

In the days that followed, several participants were arrested. OVD-Info said it was aware of more than 50 cases of people involved in the protest subsequently experiencing official harassment.