Police detain a few dozen activists at May Day rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg

In Moscow 👮‍♂️

Police detained a group of 25 so-called “psychoactivists” at a May Day rally in Moscow. The demonstrators carried signs promoting awareness about mental illnesses in Russia, and several of the participants themselves suffer from various psychological conditions. “I know my diagnosis. Do you?” read one sign. Other said, “‘Bipolar’ isn’t a fashion accessory — it’s my diagnosis,” and “There are more of us than it seems.”

The artist Ekaterina Nenasheva was one of the demonstration’s organizers. Last summer, she was detained in Red Square during an act of performance art. Nenasheva refused to remove her VR headset, which she was using to view photos of Russian psychoneurological boarding homes. The police later sent her for psychiatric evaluation, and she was ultimately released without any charges.

In St. Petersburg 👮‍♂️

Police in St. Petersburg detained nearly a dozen activists who attended the city’s May Day rally carrying the flags of Ukraine, Great Britain, Finland, Israel, Georgia, the EU, and the United States. Two of the demonstrators also had a rainbow flag and a portrait of Vladimir Putin.

On May 1, St. Petersburg also hosted an Internet freedom demonstration in support of the instant messenger Telegram. Fewer than 3,000 peoplereportedly showed up.