Demonstrators across Russia defied orders not to hold unauthorized protests and gathered across Russia amid a crackdown on dissidents on Sunday.
Why it matters: The detention of opposition leader Alexey Navalny has united Russians from diverse backgrounds, including those who oppose his politics, to protest President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian leadership, according to the New York Times. They are gathering despite the police arresting thousands of protesters last week.
Riot police at an unauthorized rally in Vladivostok. Sociologist Konstantin Gaaze of the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences told the NYT, “Navalny has launched a Russian protest movement against the president for the first time.” Photo: Yuri Smityuk / TASS via Getty ImagesA police officer detains a protester during an unauthorized protest in support of Navalny in the Far East city of Yakutsk in the Sakha Republic. Photo: Vadim Skryabin / TASS via Getty ImagesMoscow law enforcement officers are standing guard outside Chistye Prudy metro station ahead of a planned unauthorized meeting. Authorities have closed stations and restricted traffic across the city, the BBC notes. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP via Getty ImagesProtesters and police officers in Yakutsk, where the temperature has risen -39 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo: Vadim Skryabin / TASS via Getty ImageRiot police are holding a protester in Novosibirsk. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar TASS via Getty ImagesThe scene in St. Petersburg prior to an unauthorized meeting in the port city. Photo: Alexander Demianchuk / TASS via Getty ImagesPolice officers hold a protester during an illegal 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 are holding a protester. Photo: Yuri Smityuk / TASS via Getty Images
Go deeper: Biden’s Russia Challenge
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with more photos.
