Protest against corruption On June 12, Navalny was accused of administrative violations. Capitals are ready to celebrate

On Monday, our eastern neighbors had a day off - they celebrated the Day of Russia. The celebration was accompanied by significant, as for the Russian Federation, protests. In Moscow, St. Petersburg and several other cities, where protests took place in locations that were not agreed with the authorities, many activists were detained. In particular, according to the OVD-info website, about 730 people were detained in Moscow, and about 500 in St. Petersburg.

Who provoked Navalny

Oppositionist Alexei Navalny called on Russia Day to protest against corruption under the slogan "We demand answers." The reason for the protests on March 26 is the investigation of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, headed by Navalny, about the gigantic fortune of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

On the eve of the rally, Navalny called on his supporters to protest not on Sakharov Avenue agreed with the Moscow City Hall, but on Tverskaya Street. They say that all sound equipment suppliers refused to work with them under pressure from the authorities, therefore the Kremlin allegedly allows the protest with one hand, and with the other makes it so that the participants could not make speeches and communicate with each other.

The decision to move the action to a place not approved by the Moscow mayor's office caused heated discussions in the Russian segment of social networks. Navalny began to be accused of being a provocateur and calling on people to voluntarily go under the batons of riot police.

It is interesting that the local authorities reacted in the same way: they called the gatherings of people in inconsistent places a provocation. Like, you can walk, but without posters and shouting protest slogans.

Navalny himself was arrested on the day of the rally right in the entrance of his own house. At the rally on March 26, he was already detained at the rally. After the arrest, they also cut off the electricity and the Internet in the office of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Protest action in Novosibirsk. Photo: Twitter @sourreadthis

"Putin is a thief" and other slogans

Navalny's absence did not stop people from going to protests. During previous anti-corruption rallies, Ukrainians have wondered why Russians are so actively protesting against Medvedev, but hesitating to speak out against Putin.

This time there were also many slogans calling for Medvedev to resign. But there were places where people chanted "Putin is a thief", "Russia without Putin" and "Down with the Tsar". In St. Petersburg, on the Field of Mars, the police detained a man with a poster "Volodya! We are tired of you."

The fact that this time there were much more anti-Putin slogans was also noted live on the Dozhd TV channel.

In addition to Navalny, several other prominent figures of the Russian opposition movement were detained at a rally in Moscow: politician Ilya Yashin, chairman of the human rights department of Open Russia Maria Baronova, and the publisher of the Mediazone website Pyotr Verzilov.

In general, the police detained people quite gently. As a rule, a group of five or six police officers ran into the crowd and snatched the protesters one at a time: they hardly beat them with batons. Yashin and Verzilov easily went online via the Internet in a live broadcast on the Dozhd TV channel directly from paddy wagons.

Detentions at a rally in Moscow. Photo: Reuters

Detentions at a rally in Moscow. Photo: Reuters

The Moscow authorities praised the police for "working like clockwork." According to Vladimir Chernikov, head of Moscow's regional security department, the siloviki had no task of carrying out cleansing operations, but only "spot professional work." The detention of people wrapped in the Russian tricolor looked especially surreal.

Detentions at a rally in Moscow. Photo: Reuters

In St. Petersburg, the authorities even organized free buses for the protesters, which were supposed to take them from the Field of Mars to the Specific Park - there, they say, you can protest without breaking the law.

In Kazan, the action was allowed only in a remote area of ​​the city at seven o'clock in the morning. In many other cities, authorities have also tried to push protesters away from the city centre.

Who is Putin afraid of?

In Ukraine, they are rather skeptical about Navalny, especially after his words "Crimea is not a sandwich." However, there are currently no other charismatic protest leaders in Russia. Interestingly, in the absence of Navalny and other leaders at the rally, the protest begins to take on anti-Putin forms. And there is no doubt that the Kremlin noticed this.

In general, it does not matter whether Navalny is in the opposition or whether he is a Kremlin agent. Putin is clearly nervous as the 2018 presidential election approaches. And even if the goal of Navalny's rallies is to blow off steam, to switch attention from the Russian president to the "bad boyars" - he did not cope with it.

The politician launches protest waves, but is clearly not able to control them. And, as we see, even mass detentions no longer stop many Russians from going to an uncoordinated protest action.

It is clear that it is stupid to expect Maidan from the Russians. They are clearly not ready to go to the last, fight with the police and build barricades. But the fact that the Russian authorities are beginning to fear their own people is encouraging.

In Russia, on Monday, June 12, anti-corruption rallies are held, organized by the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) Alexei Navalny. On the same day, official celebrations in honor of the Day of Russia are planned throughout the country. DW talks about what is happening in Russian cities.

According to OVD-Info, 825 people have been detained in Moscow so far.

Washington condemned the detention of hundreds of protesters in Russia. White House spokesman Sean Spicer called on the Russian leadership to "immediately release all peaceful demonstrators." "Russians deserve a government that supports open expression, transparent and sane government, equal treatment of the law, and the ability to exercise their rights without fear of retribution," Spicer said.

Alexei Navalny was taken to the Simonovsky Court, an administrative case was opened on charges of violating the rules for holding rallies and disobeying the police. The politician faces up to 30 days in jail.

Director of the FBK and the organizer of the rally on Sakharov Avenue Roman Rubanov is charged with Article 19.3 (“Disobedience to a lawful order of a police officer”) and detained until trial.

About 10,000 people took part in the protest action on the Field of Mars in St. Petersburg, Fontanka reports, citing mapchecking.com, a service for counting people on a map.

More than 700 people were detained in Moscow, 890 in St. Petersburg

Frames are being dismantled on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow, a DW correspondent reports.

Detention of a participant in an anti-corruption rally on the Field of Mars.

At the moment, 400 people have been detained in Moscow, and 300 in St. Petersburg, OVD-Info points out.

A policeman smashed a 12-year-old child's lip with a baton while dispersing a protest rally on Tverskaya Street in Moscow, Mediazona writes.

In Kaliningrad, 36 people were detained at an anti-corruption rally, OVD-Info reports.

The police used batons

The police used batons on Pushkin Square and on Tverskaya.

Navalny's phone and shoelaces were taken away. He is charged with Art. 20.2 h.8 - up to 30 days of administrative arrest.

Deputy Maxim Reznik was released from the police department, he is again at a rally on the Field of Mars, Fontanka reports.

There are not enough places for detainees in the OVD.

Right now at the intersection of Tverskoy Boulevard and Tverskaya Street.

Detained coordinator of "Open Russia" Maria Baronova.

Gas sprayed on Pushkinskaya Square

Photographer Yevgeny Feldman writes that not tear gas was sprayed on Pushkinskaya, but pepper gas.

Alexei Navalny's press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, tweeted that tear gas was used against her. Prior to that, Open Russia wrote about the fact that Pushkinskaya was "turned on gas".

Director of the FBK and applicant for the rally on Sakharov Avenue Roman Rubanov wrote on Twitter about his detention at the site of the agreed rally.

More than 100 people have been detained in Moscow, OVD-Info writes.

The police detained seven people in Sochi, OVD-Info reports.

A convoy of special forces is trying to break into the crowd of participants in the rally on Tverskaya in Moscow, who are chanting "Shame!" in response, a DW correspondent reports from the scene.

Ilya Yashin was detained in Moscow.

Groups of participants in an anti-corruption rally on the Field of Mars in St. Petersburg with badges from the election campaign of Alexei Navalny-2018 chant "Russia will be free" and "Putin is a thief." They are surrounded by law enforcement officers, the National Guard and OMON in combat uniforms and taken to armored paddy wagons. Surrounding in the answer shout "Shame!" and see off the detainees with applause, according to a DW correspondent from St. Petersburg.

On Pushkin Square in Moscow there is a stampede in front of metal detectors, a DW correspondent reports from the scene. Exits to Tverskaya Street are maximally limited not only by special forces columns, but also by construction fences. In some places, the width of the sidewalk on Tverskaya is narrowed to one and a half meters.

Navalny was accused of administrative violations

Alexei Navalny is accused of administrative violations under Art. 20.2 (“Repeated violation of the rules for organizing rallies”) and 19.3 (“Disobedience to the lawful order of a police officer”), the press service of the Moscow police reports.

The police began the first arrests on the Champ de Mars, a DW correspondent reports from the scene. OMON surrounded the participants of the action, about 50 people were detained.

The authorities of St. Petersburg suddenly proposed to the opposition to move the anti-corruption rally from the Field of Mars to the Udelny Park, reports Fontanka.ru. They even organized free buses to transport the participants of the event there, and massively distribute leaflets prepared in advance to people. Those who did not want to leave the Field of Mars were warned that any activity would be perceived as unauthorized and would be suppressed.

In Moscow, on Sakharov Avenue, three participants in an anti-corruption rally were detained. One of them was hit by a policeman, the OVD-Info website reports.

Photo of the detention of Alexei Navalny.

The online broadcast from the FBK studio has been resumed. "Stream was restarted from a backup studio," writes Volkov.

In the FBK studio, electricity and the Internet were turned off, Leonid Volkov said on Twitter. The online broadcast of the rallies was interrupted.

Alexei Navalny detained in Moscow

Alexei Navalny was detained at the entrance of his own house. This was announced on Twitter by his wife Julia.

In Vladivostok, 22 protesters were detained, Interfax reports. Administrative protocols have been drawn up against them.

The protest action of the opposition ended in Novosibirsk. According to various sources, from 2.5 thousand to 5 thousand people took part in the procession and rally.

Employees of the "E" center actually took under house arrest the head of Alexei Navalny's headquarters in St. Petersburg, Polina Kostyleva, and the coordinator of the youth movement "Spring" Nikolai Artemenko, a DW correspondent reports. Both oppositionists are in their apartments, and employees of the center for combating extremism are on duty at the landings and in the courtyard. According to Polina Kostyleva, law enforcement officers plan to remain in their places until the end of the action on the Field of Mars.

The Moscow police will not detain the participants of the "festivities" on Tverskaya if they come there without posters and do not shout out slogans, Vladimir Chernikov, head of the Moscow regional security and anti-corruption department, said on the air of Ekho Moskvy. He also recalled that various festive events in honor of the Day of Russia are planned on Tverskaya.

In St. Petersburg, even before the start of the action, the organizers of an anti-corruption rally began to be detained, a DW correspondent reports. The police took Alexander Rastorguev, coordinator of the St. Petersburg movement "Artpodgotovki" to the Gatchina department.

Employees of department "E" came for the coordinator of "Open Russia" Andrey Pivovarov. According to them, they received a "signal" that he was preparing provocations during a sanctioned sports and patriotic action on the Field of Mars.

Paddy wagons and armored vehicles are being pulled to Tverskaya

Paddy wagons and armored vehicles are being pulled to Tverskaya Street in Moscow. A few hours earlier, it was blocked by hedgehogs.

Rallies are held in Vladivostok and Blagoveshchensk. At least two people were detained in Vladivostok, including the coordinator of Navalny's local campaign headquarters, Yuri Kuchin. He was taken to the police station even before he reached the place of the action. In relation to Kuchin, an administrative case will be considered under the article on violation of the established procedure for holding a rally.

Maxim Shinkarenko was also detained, who was going to organize a solo picket. A poster with the inscription "Dimon, get out" was confiscated from him, which he did not have time to unfold. Another participant of the anti-corruption action in Vladivostok was doused with brilliant green. In total, more than 300 people participate in the authorized opposition rally at the station square, correspondents report.

Kazan authorities allowed the rally to be held at 7 am. About 400 people gathered to participate in the anti-corruption campaign, said Elvira Dmitrieva, coordinator of Navalny's local headquarters. The rally is taking place in the village of Yudino on the outskirts of Kazan - it was this place that was agreed with the authorities.

See also:

Watch video 01:04

The first participants in anti-corruption rallies were detained in Vladivostok (12.06.2017)

  • Against corruption

    On the initiative of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, on March 26, 2017, protests took place in Moscow and other cities. One of the reasons was an FBK investigation into property allegedly owned by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

    • Protest in Moscow: how it was

    Pushkin is a symbol of protest

    The event was not sanctioned, so its route turned out to be quite chaotic. According to various estimates, from 7 to 20 thousand people took part in it. Most of the protesters moved from the Belorusskaya or Mayakovskaya metro station to Okhotny Ryad. A crowd gathered at the famous monument to Pushkin.

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    "I can't hold on anymore"

    There were few posters and leaflets, but they did occur. Among them with such inscriptions: "There is no more strength to hold on: there is neither health nor mood", "The government must answer before the law", "Dima, do not steal", "Self-teacher. How to steal 70 billion rubles, and so that you nothing for it did not have".

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    Single pickets

    There were also participants of single pickets. So, for example, near the mayor's office there was a man with a poster "Shame on the authorities." It turned out to be a deceived shareholder. He said that he was "terribly outraged" by corruption in the country, although he was skeptical of the words of any, including opposition, politicians.

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    "Cleansing" of Pushkinskaya

    After 4 p.m., the police began "cleansing" Pushkin Square. Many oppositionists rushed into the lanes, to Dmitrovka and Strastnoy Boulevard. Others decided to go back towards the Kremlin. Thus, a new focus of the action arose - on Manezhnaya Square.

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    Volkov was charged with extremism

    The police came to the FBK building, where the activists of the Foundation were broadcasting protests online. They were taken to the police. FBK employee Leonid Volkov was charged with extremism. The rest of the FBK activists are accused of "disobedience to the lawful demands of police officers."

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    The police did not stand on ceremony

    The police detained everyone in a row, regardless of age and gender. "Mediazona" reports that in Moscow alone, the police detained more than 800 people. There were also reports of unreasonable use of force by the police.

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    The policeman was also beaten

    The Investigative Committee of Russia spoke about the initiation of a criminal case in connection with the beating of a policeman. According to the agency, "the 33-year-old policeman was deliberately hit multiple times with an unidentified object in the head by unidentified persons." He was taken to the hospital.

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    Navalny was also detained

    Among the detainees was the opposition leader, the initiator of the action - Alexei Navalny. He was detained until the morning.

    Protest in Moscow: how it was

    St. Petersburg and others

    In addition to Moscow, protests were also held in a number of other Russian cities - in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Tomsk, Chita, Barnaul, Ufa, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novokuznetsk, Tyumen, Saratov, Omsk, Komsomolsk-on - Amur and Makhachkala, as well as abroad.


On Monday, June 12, protests against corruption were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, during which over 700 people were detained, according to "Rain" in OVD-Info. According to other sources, over 1,000 people were detained. The HRC noted the tough actions of the riot police during the detention of activists in Moscow.

In St. Petersburg, the action on the Field of Mars was not coordinated with the mayor's office, since a military-patriotic festival was planned at the site chosen by the opposition. The participants of the action were offered to go by bus to the Specific Park, but they preferred to stay on the Field of Mars.

About 3.5 thousand people took part in the action (according to OVD-Info), of which more than 300 people were detained. According to the oppositionists, 15,000 people took part in the action, 346 people were taken to 17 police stations.

OMON surrounded the protesters in a ring and took them to buses and paddy wagons. Activists chanted: "No to censorship!" and "Medvedev resign!" A giant inflatable yellow duck was launched over the crowd and tossed around like a ball. The police tried to take her away and take her to the bus. The detention of a young girl as a criminal caused a special resonance on the network. Among the detainees is Deputy of the Legislative Assembly Maxim Reznik, who actively resisted.

Over 400 detainees in Moscow

The day before the rally in the capital, Navalny refused the agreed-upon action on Sakharov Avenue and called on his supporters to come for a "walk" along Tverskaya, where the Times and Epochs festival was scheduled to be held. Thus, the action became illegal.

According to him, holding the rally at the site agreed with the mayor's office became impossible, since all the contractors refused to cooperate with the organizers of the rally and install a stage and sound equipment due to pressure from the Moscow administration.

According to Dozhd, about 400 people were detained in Moscow. “750 people were detained in Moscow, about 900 in St. Petersburg,” Alla Frolova, coordinator of legal assistance for OVD-info, told RBC. Among the detainees was the chairman of the "Open Russia" Alexander Solovyov. “I left the rally. Went to the subway. There was a cordon in front of the metro, from which two people got out and just like that they took them to a paddy wagon, ”Soloviev writes on Twitter.

Vladimir Chernikov, head of the Moscow regional security department, called the action on Tverskaya "a 100% provocation of inadequate people who are not responsible for their actions and words." He stated that none of the organizers of the action had contacted him about problems with the installation of equipment.

Actions against corruption were held in more than 200 cities of Russia. Basically, they were agreed with the mayor's office and ended without detentions.

HRC condemned riot police

Observers from the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation (HRC) note many provocations, the participation of minors and the harsh actions of riot police at the site of unauthorized events on Tverskaya Street, writes Interfax. In this case, batons were not used.

“If at first there were few detainees, it was possible to talk about ten detainees, now they let us down literally every minute. If for the most part people were led kindly, now, I see, riot police are leading hard, pressing them to the ground, forcing them to run, I don’t see the need for this, ”said Andrey Babushkin, a member of the HRC.

According to council member Kirill Kabanov, many of the HRC assumed that the organizers did not need an official action, "because arrests are needed." “Again, teenagers who really violated the order send messages from paddy wagons that they checked themselves in and were detained,” he told Interfax.

Russia is celebrating the Day of Russia - a holiday whose name is not remembered by many of our fellow citizens. Not only official patriotic joy is scheduled for June 12, but also protests against corruption. At the last moment, Navalny transferred the Moscow action to Tverskaya. The police promised to stop "provocations". Hundreds of people were detained in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities.

Anti-corruption actions in the country

While Muscovites digest the news about the transformation of the agreed-upon action on Sakharov into the uncoordinated action on Tverskaya, life is in full swing in other cities.

Rallies were held in Novokuznetsk and Kazan. In Novokuznetsk, they tried to prevent the rallies with rain, and in Kazan - by arranging it for 7 am. But people still came out, as reported by television.

Capitals are ready to celebrate

In Moscow, anti-tank hedgehogs appeared on Tverskaya, and most importantly, NKVD officers with authentic vehicles.

The authorities claim that all this is for the Times and Epochs festival.

In St. Petersburg, where the action on the Field of Mars was not agreed upon, there was no black postmodernity: internal troops were simply driven there. Petersburg has a rich history of confrontation between soldiers and demonstrators.

Those who will be silent will not be touched

The police will not interfere with those walking on Tverskaya if they remain silent, do not bring flags and slogans, and do not show any special feelings. This was told by the head of the department of the mayor's office Vladimir Chernikov.

There will also be movement on Sakharov

On Sakharov Avenue, some actions will still take place.

The anti-renovation movement refused to go to Tverskaya. Open Russia is planning to hold its Permanent Regiment in the old place.

Some citizens, like Dmitry Gudkov, plan to be in time for both actions.

We hope that no one will chant anything in the spirit of “we will not go to the Swamp” this time. This ends rather badly, for example, with participation in talk shows on federal channels.

Profile's correspondent shares photos from Sakharov Avenue.

The assembled chant: "Revolution!"

Apparently, the police hear everything, so:

What about a public holiday?

Meanwhile, the main news agencies report on the friendship of peoples, processions of officials, bikers, Cossacks and other bright deeds of the motherland.

In Moscow, traffic was blocked on Tverskaya, the correspondent of Profile reports. The police demand that people go to the agreed-upon action on Sakharov Avenue. Shouts of "Shame" are heard.


In the meantime, a protocol was drawn up against Navalny on repeated violation of the rules for organizing rallies and disobedience to police officers.


By half past three, the head of the human rights movement, Maria Baronova, and the publisher of Mediazona, Pyotr Verzilov, were detained in Moscow.

Khodorkovsky has already given an operational comment.

Similar posts