Beatings, Arrests As Russians Protest Pension Reforms

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. 

An elderly man being detained by police. The man later apparently collapsed.

Police wearing ballistic helmets advance up a street in St. Petersburg. 

A young protester being detained in St. Petersburg. 

A protester is led away through clouds of smoke in St. Petersburg. 

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. 

Hundreds of people were detained across Russia. 

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. 

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.

Hundreds were arrested on September 9 as protests against the raising of the retirement age were held across Russia.