Beatings And Arrests At Latest Moscow Protest
- By Ray Furlong
![The authorities had warned they would take “all necessary measures” to stop the unauthorized rally. These police officers appeared to take those words to heart, as they detained a man on Pushkinskaya Square in the city center. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/1714dc98-9658-486c-8de7-51961bad0a09_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The authorities had warned they would take “all necessary measures” to stop the unauthorized rally. These police officers appeared to take those words to heart, as they detained a man on Pushkinskaya Square in the city center.
![Prominent opposition activist Lyubov Sobol was taken away by police as she left her political headquarters. She is on hunger strike, demanding the right to run in local elections, and a key organizer of the current wave of protests.](https://gdb.rferl.org/ee1649e2-05d0-4d17-8141-bb8bb947385e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Prominent opposition activist Lyubov Sobol was taken away by police as she left her political headquarters. She is on hunger strike, demanding the right to run in local elections, and a key organizer of the current wave of protests.
![Ranks of riot police were in place to prevent protesters marching along the Boulevard Ring, which skirts central Moscow. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/75af30aa-5711-4930-bda2-da1bd68d0110_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Ranks of riot police were in place to prevent protesters marching along the Boulevard Ring, which skirts central Moscow.
![Many of those detained were young...](https://gdb.rferl.org/07955a83-4af0-4404-ba1a-f9364e8c03a3_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Many of those detained were young...
![...but age was no protection from police using force to prevent peaceful protest.](https://gdb.rferl.org/53aded14-7d8d-4019-9893-958add6caa79_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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...but age was no protection from police using force to prevent peaceful protest.
![A helicopter flying over a statue of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, in the square that bears his name.](https://gdb.rferl.org/a11e8477-c0e5-42ba-900d-d19c209a2263_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A helicopter flying over a statue of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, in the square that bears his name.
![](https://gdb.rferl.org/c7be1b96-ff4d-4f11-a6a1-dbe8a2ddd46c_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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![Police swooped on another demonstrator. RFE/RL's Moscow correspondent Matthew Luxmoore said it felt like a state of emergency had been declared in Moscow.](https://gdb.rferl.org/fb1d5440-5617-45a9-8192-f1210a73ec0e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Police swooped on another demonstrator. RFE/RL's Moscow correspondent Matthew Luxmoore said it felt like a state of emergency had been declared in Moscow.
![A protester holds aloft a copy of Russia's constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly and free speech. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/6dbc1528-fbca-4f31-b172-3e721db6bfc5_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A protester holds aloft a copy of Russia's constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly and free speech.
![Russia's ongoing crackdown has been condemned by the United States, the European Union, and international human-rights organizations.](https://gdb.rferl.org/1e789f3c-9691-4aa7-a92f-67df535ef943_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Russia's ongoing crackdown has been condemned by the United States, the European Union, and international human-rights organizations.
![](https://gdb.rferl.org/d51f403e-b235-47b2-b5f1-d884d66e099b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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![Batons ready, members of Russia's National Guard were also on hand to prevent the demonstrators gathering.](https://gdb.rferl.org/f10e0470-7ab1-4a3d-bb07-5fc48d9b7ae6_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Batons ready, members of Russia's National Guard were also on hand to prevent the demonstrators gathering.
![](https://gdb.rferl.org/980196ee-7d59-47a8-b5e2-b7c6aeef0622_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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![](https://gdb.rferl.org/af608849-bd8d-43e7-8c92-2fb9483f835a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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