Protesters across Russia were defying defying orders not to hold unauthorized protests and rallying across Russia amid a crackdown on dissidents Sunday.
Why it matters: The detention of opposition leader Alexey Navalny has united Russians from a variety of backgrounds, including those who are against his politics, to protest the authoritarian leadership of President Vladimir Putin, per the New York Times. They’re rallying despite police arresting thousands of protesters last week.
Riot police at an unauthorized rally in Vladivostok. Moscow School for Social and Economic Sciences sociologist Konstantin Gaaze told the NYT, “Navalny has, for the first time, sparked a Russian protest movement against the president.” Photo: Yuri Smityuk/TASS via Getty ImagesA police officer detains a demonstrator during an unauthorized protest in support of Navalny in the Far East city of Yakutsk in the Republic of Sakha. Photo: Vadim Skryabin/TASS via Getty ImagesMoscow law enforcement officers stand guard outside Chistye Prudy metro station ahead of a planned unauthorized rally. Authorities have shut stations and were restricting movement across the city, the BBC notes. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty ImagesDemonstrators and police officers in Yakutsk, where temperatures have hit -39 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo: Vadim Skryabin/TASS via Getty ImageRiot police detain a demonstrator in Novosibirsk. Photo: Kirill KukhmarTASS via Getty ImagesThe scene in St Petersburg ahead of an unauthorized rally in the port city. Photo: Alexander Demianchuk/TASS via Getty ImagesPolice officers detain a demonstrator during an unauthorized protest in Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains. Photo: Donat Sorokin/TASS via Getty ImagesNovosibirsk police officers detain demonstrators. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar/TASS via Getty ImagesVladivostok police officers detain a demonstrator. Photo: Yuri Smityuk/TASS via Getty Images
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Editor’s note: This article has been updated with more photos.