From Vladivostok to Kaliningrad Photos from across Russia during the rallies in support of Alexey Navalny on April 21
On April 21, thousands of people in cities across Russia took to the streets in a show of solidarity with opposition politician Alexey Navalny, who has been on a prison hunger strike since March 31. Compared to the police response at the pro-Navalny protests earlier this year, the April 21st demonstrations saw relatively fewer arrests. That said, more than 1,900 people still ended up in police custody, and most of these detentions took place in St. Petersburg. Here’s what the protests looked like outside of Moscow.
Vladivostok
Protesters carrying a giant orange duck, harking back to team Navalny’s first major anti-corruption investigation into the illicit wealth of former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The investigation sparked large-scale rallies in Russia in 2017.
Pavel Korolev / AFP / Scanpix / LETA
Protesters in Vladivostok standing behind a monument to Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin.
Yuri Maltsev / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
In total, 500 people took to the streets to protest in Vladivostok
Yuri Smityuk / TASS / Scanpix / LETA
Khabarovsk
Protesters dancing in a circle on Lenin Square in Khabarovsk. Meanwhile, a police officer with a megaphone demands that they clear the area.
Igor Volkov / Kommersant
Police preparing for the April 21st protest. In the background is Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address, being broadcast on a giant screen.
Igor Volkov / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Novosibirsk
Protesters on Lenin Square in Novosibirsk holding up their cell phone flashlights
Kirill Kukhmar / TASS
An estimated 2,500 people joined the rally in Novosibirsk
Kirill Kukhmar / TASS / Scanpix / LETA
The protest in Novosibirsk took place without any arrests
Kirill Kukhmar / TASS / Scanpix / LETA
Ulan-Ude
Security officials (including a plainclothes officer) arresting a protesters in Ulan-Ude. At least 10 people were detaiend during the rally.
Anna Ogorodnik / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Omsk
Approximately 1,000 people attended the rally in support of Navalny in Omsk
Alexey Malgavko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
A protesters with a sign that reads “Putin is a killer”
Alexey Malgavko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
Three protesters were detained during the rally in Omsk.
Alexey Malgavko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
Chelyabinsk
An estimated 2,000 people took part in the protest in Chelyabinsk
Nail Fattakhov / Znak.com
At least nine protesters were detained at the Chelyabinsk rally
Nail Fattakhov / Znak.com
Yekaterinburg
Estimates of the number of protesters at the rally in Yekaterinburg range from 5,000 to 13,000 people
Donat Sorkin / TASSS
Former Yekaterinburg mayor Evgeny Royzman joined the rally
Donat Sorkin / TASS / Vida Press
At least nine people were detained in Yekaterinburg
Donat Sorkin / TASS
Orenburg
Protesters dancing in a circle in Orenburg, where, according to media estimates, around 200 people took to the streets.
Alena Gnidenko / TASS
Kazan
Security forces on Kazan’s Bauman Street
Artem Dergunov / TASS
Kazan was one of the leading cities in terms of the number of arrests — at least 49 people were detained
Artem Dergunov / TASS
Rostov-on-Don
Protesters holding up their cell phone flashlights in Rostov-on-Don
Erik Romanenko / TASS
St. Petersburg
In St. Petersburg, law enforcement officers actively used stun guns while detaining protesters
Anton Vaganov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
A protester carrying a Russian flag marching in a crowd in the city center
Anton Vaganov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
More than 800 people were detained in St. Petersburg
Anton Vaganov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
A police car blocking the path of protesters
Pyotr Kovalev / TASS / Vida Press
Kaliningrad
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Kaliningrad
Vitaly Nevar / TASS
In Kaliningrad, 22 people were detained
Vitaly Nevar / TASS