‘He's no tsar to us!’ Across Russia, thousands protest ahead of Putin's next inauguration. Here are the photos.
On Saturday, May 5, protesters assembled in Moscow and dozens of other cities across Russia to join in a campaign organized by Alexey Navalny. United behind the slogan “He's No Tsar to Us,” the rallies took place two days before Vladimir Putin's inauguration on Monday, when he will begin his fourth presidential term. In the nation's capital, people gathered at Pushkin Square and on Tverskaya Street, where protesters skirmished with “ultra-patriot” activists from the National Liberation Movement and men dressed as Cossacks. The rally in Moscow did not have a permit from the local authorities, though some of the protests around the country were sanctioned by city officials. At the time of this writing, police had detained more than 700 demonstrators in Moscow. Nationwide, law enforcement arrested more than 1,600 protesters.