Red Square protesters use their bodies to spell out ‘2036’ — potentially the new expiration date on Vladimir Putin’s presidency

Police officers have arrested eight activists in Red Square who arranged their bodies on the ground to spell out “2036” — the year to which Vladimir Putin’s presidency could extend, once Russia adopts a new constitutional amendment to “zero” his presidential term clock. The group of demonstrators included members of Pussy Riot and Moscow municipal deputies Lyusya Shtein and Viktor Kotov.

In police custody, officers later manhandled Mr. Kotov. All demonstrators were later released without charges.

The demonstration mimics a similar act by a Russian art group in April 1991, when activists assembled in Red Square and used their bodies to spell out a Russian obscenity that translates loosely to the word “fuck” (or, more literally, “dick”) to protest a Soviet morality law that prohibited obscene language in public places.