Protesters from all over Russia defied defiance orders for not holding unauthorized protests and rallied all over Russia amid crackdown on dissidents on Sunday.
Why it’s important: The arrest of opposition leader Alexey Navalny has united Russians from diverse backgrounds, including those who are against his policy, to protest President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian leadership, according to the New York Times. They are concentrating even though last week police arrested thousands of protesters.
Riot police at an unauthorized rally in Vladivostok. Sociologist at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences Konstantin Gaaze told the NYT: “Navalny, for the first time, provoked a Russian protest movement against the president.” Photo: Yuri Smityuk / TASS via Getty ImagesA police officer detains a protester during an unauthorized protest in support of Navalny in the city of Yakutsk, in the Sakha Republic, in the Far East. Photo: Vadim Skryabin / TASS via Getty ImagesMoscow police officers guard the Chistye Prudy metro station before an unauthorized rally. Authorities have closed stations and restricted movement around the city, the BBC notes. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP via Getty ImagesProtesters and police officers in Yakutsk, where temperatures have reached -39 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo: Vadim Skryabin / TASS via Getty ImageRiot police detain a protester in Novosibirsk. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar TASS via Getty ImagesThe scene in St. Petersburg before an unauthorized rally in the port city. Photo: Alexander Demianchuk / TASS via Getty ImagesPolice detain a protester during an unauthorized protest in Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains. Photo: Donat Sorokin / TASS via Getty ImagesNovosibirsk police officers detain protesters. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar / TASS via Getty ImagesVladivostok police officers arrest a protester. Photo: Yuri Smityuk / TASS via Getty Images
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Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with more photos.
