Dozens arrested in Russia protests

Russian riot police arrested dozens of people in Moscow and Saint Petersburg who tried to stage unsanctioned New Year’s Eve protests against 12 years of Vladimir Putin’s dominant rule.

The show of police force marked the first time the authorities cracked down on members of the Russian opposition since allowing two massive rallies on December 10 and December 24.

Chants of “Russia without Putin” and “We need another Russia” rang out at both events late on Saturday evening. Reports said that 200 people had also gathered in the central city of Nizhny Novgorod without being arrested.

Moscow police reported detaining 60 people after setting up an imposing cordon around the central Triumfalnaya Square while an AFP correspondent saw a dozen more roughly rounded up by helmeted crack troops in Saint Petersburg.

Russia’s opposition has been mobilised by the outcome of disputed December 4 parliamentary polls in which Mr Putin’s ruling party retained a narrow majority amid widespread allegations of fraud.

The huge rallies witnessed in Moscow earlier this month were the largest since the turbulent early years of post-Soviet rule and brought together various political forces marginalised since Mr Putin’s rise to power in 1999.

But those detained were mostly brought out on the street by the radical leftist leader and author Eduard Limonov – arrested on many occasions at other unsanctioned end-of-month events marking the right to freedom of assembly.

Mr Limonov told Moscow Echo radio that he was detained again on Saturday night and was now being driven to a police station.

The veteran Russian human rights activist and leader of the Moscow Helsinki group Lyudmila Alexeyeva described the arrests as “shameful and stupid”.

“Our authorities have to understand that the era of breaking up meetings has come to an end,” she told the Interfax news agency.

The 59-year-old Putin now intends to return to the Kremlin after March 4 presidential elections that – according to a privately agreed job swap – will see him hand his current premiership post to President Dmitry Medvedev.