Photos from the police crackdown against Saturday’s rally for free elections in Moscow

On July 27, several thousand people turned out in downtown Moscow for an “unauthorized” demonstration in support of free elections, protesting against officials’ refusal to register dozens of independent candidates for September’s City Duma race. Even before the rally formally began, the often brutal arrests started. Several hundred people soon found themselves inside police buses near Tverskaya Street, as protesters made their way by other routes to Trubnaya Square, where the arrests continued. By the end of the day, police say they arrested more than 1,000 people. In a special report for Meduza, photographer Evgeny Feldman followed the demonstrators in their confrontation with the capital’s law enforcement.