Beatings, Arrests As Russians Protest Pension Reforms
Hundreds were arrested on September 9 as protests against the raising of the retirement age were held across Russia.
![A Russian national guardsman beats a protester with a rubber baton during protests in Moscow. Video of the incident show the guardsman striking the detained man twice with full force, before a bystander punches the riot policeman on right. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/53e1c91d-c1ee-4b6d-a3be-08269a8b7dc4_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Russian national guardsman beats a protester with a rubber baton during protests in Moscow. Video of the incident show the guardsman striking the detained man twice with full force, before a bystander punches the riot policeman on right.
![A child is led away by a police officer during a protest in St. Petersburg. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/e3dea525-e4a9-47cd-bbc3-7e676715f516_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A child is led away by a police officer during a protest in St. Petersburg.
![An elderly man being detained by police. The man later apparently collapsed.](https://gdb.rferl.org/9789502a-e0e6-4ca6-824f-eda25a592b0b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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An elderly man being detained by police. The man later apparently collapsed.
![Police wearing ballistic helmets advance up a street in St. Petersburg. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/faa19011-b232-4e6c-a7f6-19b8ab72c9e3_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Police wearing ballistic helmets advance up a street in St. Petersburg.
![A young protester being detained in St. Petersburg. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/c9d4560d-cf93-46a1-871a-89979a33a1b8_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A young protester being detained in St. Petersburg.
![A protester is led away through clouds of smoke in St. Petersburg. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/ca9e9bae-c424-492a-8c8c-4cc51f3e2bd1_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A protester is led away through clouds of smoke in St. Petersburg.
![Veteran politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky attends the protest in Moscow. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/b566c593-bd8d-4568-872a-e388997c0ef7_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Veteran politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky attends the protest in Moscow.
![Scuffles took place in Moscow, where around 2,000 protesters reportedly started marching toward the Kremlin before being stopped by metal barriers and lines of police. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/33663182-f2ab-45ef-8d14-fcdfd87fb358_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Scuffles took place in Moscow, where around 2,000 protesters reportedly started marching toward the Kremlin before being stopped by metal barriers and lines of police.
![Hundreds of people were detained across Russia. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/81f16482-1b42-4ed3-b718-684ee3459829_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Hundreds of people were detained across Russia.
![Police charging through protest lines in St. Petersburg. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/d4ab10c0-7ea4-43d4-81b5-8ddf398a94fe_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Police charging through protest lines in St. Petersburg.
![Scuffles in St. Petersburg. The raising of the retirement age has proven to be a deeply unpopular move in Russia. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/f92d827d-806f-42dd-8f91-d092e0253abc_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Scuffles in St. Petersburg. The raising of the retirement age has proven to be a deeply unpopular move in Russia.
![A youngster is detained in Moscow. According to a recent survey, some 90 percent of Russians oppose the plan to raise the retirement age, and a recent poll by the Levada Center polling agency found that more than 50 percent of Russians say they would participate in protests against it.](https://gdb.rferl.org/b2b05b68-07db-491f-b9ba-96003937c607_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A youngster is detained in Moscow. According to a recent survey, some 90 percent of Russians oppose the plan to raise the retirement age, and a recent poll by the Levada Center polling agency found that more than 50 percent of Russians say they would participate in protests against it.