Translated material
Events of the evening of December 6. Opposition rally on Triumfalnaya Square
Triumph Square. On both sides of the OMON
Anna Artemyeva
23:10. Photo report. December 6. Triumfalnaya Square
Evgeny Feldman
On Triumfalnaya, for the first time in many months, the police did not cordon off the colonnade of the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. Instead, it was occupied by members of pro-Kremlin movements in green vests and white jackets, lined up on the steps in several rows, waving Russian tricolors.
Leaders with megaphones walked along their line and prompted slogans: “Russia! Putin! and "Victory! Medvedev! The rhythm was beaten by drums, seemingly tightly fixed in the hands of the activists of the Steel movement, drowning out all other sounds. "Russia! Russia!" - buzzed "nashists". "Without Putin!" - shouted to them a young man, clinging to the entrance to the theater. “I wanted to go to a fitness club, but it turned out to be more interesting here!” - told him a girl balancing on a tub with an artificial tree in order to better see the area.
Two forces converged on the square today: citizens dissatisfied with the results of the elections and "Nashi" - the same pro-Kremlin youth who were brought to Moscow on the eve of the elections and settled in one of the pavilions at the All-Russian Exhibition Center. The pro-Kremlin people could not have time to agree on a line of conduct at today's mass action. They decided to go to Triumfalnaya unexpectedly, when, after yesterday's dispersal of a 10,000-strong rally at Chistye Prudy, opposition leaders announced a rally on Triumfalnaya under the slogan: release the detainees. That is, the public actions of the "Nashists" were not coordinated with the mayor's office. Nevertheless, the police took their side: the riot police crowded the "dissenters", they were squeezed out of the square in formation, they were detained very harshly.
The undetained tried to gain a foothold on the other side of Tverskaya - at the Peking Hotel. They shouted "Freedom!" and - "Russia without Putin!".
Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin was detained, then quickly released, but soon put back in a paddy wagon. As always, the leader of the "Other Russia" Eduard Limonov was not allowed to step on the square. As a result, both Mitrokhin and Limonov ended up together in the department. “We are sitting with Limonov in the Tverskoye police department. We argue about the political situation in the country,” Mitrokhin wrote on his Twitter.
An hour and a half later, the main forces of the protesters concentrated on the steps of the Theater of Satire and further - closer to the Aquarium Garden - about five hundred people. The police now and then dragged someone into the paddy wagon. Dissenters whistled and chanted: "Rubbish shame on Russia!" and "It's a shame to be a Nashist!" From the colonnade, the pro-Kremlin people moved in their direction. A wall-to-wall skirmish began, but the police wedged between the fighting. The drummers from Stal moved forward. Dissenters responded by holding up a banner depicting many of Putin's heads and the inscription "The Duma is illegitimate." Those holding the poster were immediately taken to a paddy wagon, but the banner itself was saved and raised above the crowd again. Then the Nashists began to pull him out. Some objects flew into them, including one burning flare. As a result of the fight, the protesters took away one drum from the pro-Kremlin and pompously carried it down the Sadovoye - a chain of police drove the people there. The lobby of the Mayakovskaya metro station has been closed for a long time. On the sidewalks, where detentions continued, one and a half people were walking from Triumfalnaya.
Natalia Zotova, Evgeny Feldman
23:09 Detained opposition activists are now being released from the Basmanny police station with subpoenas to appear in court
The detainees at Triumfalnaya were charged with article 20.2. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation - "Violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, procession or picketing." As Elena Nadezhkina, one of the detainees, told Novaya Gazeta, the charges are, in particular, that oppositionists shouted “Shame on Putin!”, “interfered with passers-by,” and so on. Moreover, according to the activist, they detained passers-by at Triumfalnaya today.
“For example, a man got into our paddy wagon, who came to the Mayakovskaya metro station in the evening to meet his wife from work. He was immediately hushed up. Despite all his explanations,” said Nadezhkina.
She and the rest of the detainees are being released from the Basmannoye police station at that moment. Everyone is given a summons to appear in court.
Vera Chelishcheva
21:09 At the rally, there were two clashes between oppositionists and members of pro-Kremel movements. First, the youth loyal to Putin went towards the Garden Ring against the oppositionists standing there. A fight started. However, the police immediately wedged into the crowd and dispersed everyone at a distance from each other. After that, they walked away. Then the drummers from Stal came forward and began to tap out the rhythm.
The opposition raised a banner with a slogan saying that the past elections were illegitimate. Then the UN employees CSN (former OMON) broke into the densely packed ranks of activists and began to carry out detentions in a very rude manner. Nevertheless, the poster remained in the hands of the demonstrators, it was straightened out and handed over to those standing in the front rows. Immediately, pro-Kremlin activists pulled it out of the hands of the protesters.
Immediately after that, a fight started again: first, the oppositionists attacked the drummers standing in front, and in the ensuing skirmish, the oppositionists took away the drum from the Stal activists, at that time, from the back rows of the crowd of demonstrators, they threw a burning fire at the pro-Kremlin people. After another minute, the sides were again cut by a line of UN soldiers.
Evgeny Feldman
21:02 Between the Nazis (they are higher, on the steps of the concert hall) and the opposition (closer to the Theater of Satire) a fight has begun! The UN TsSN (former OMON), about 30 people, breaks in here. A flare flew at the Nazis.
The crowds of Nashi and opposition have just parted, now there are ten meters between them.
Nadezhda Prusenkova
20:59. Dmitry Muratov: “Police tactics on Triumfalnaya are very cruel. Iron "ram" against living people ... "
Police tactics: 10-12 people, becoming a chain, grabbing each other by the shoulders, with an iron ram with shields run into people standing on the sidewalk from the side of Pushkinskaya. The first policeman in a helmet, who broke through the formation of people, grabs the first person who comes under the arm and drags him inside the "ram", then he is "accepted" and put in a paddy wagon. When the battering rams break into the line of people - a loud chant of the word "Shame."
They seize mostly young people - the average age is 20-30 years. Around me, I counted about 800 people - these are the ones I can see.
People have a bad reaction to this. Of course, they are shouted down.
The slogans that are being shouted out here are: "Putin is a thief!", "United Russia is not the party of the people, but the party of millionaires." The difference between this stand and previous rallies on Triumfalnaya is a lot of young people and clearly formulated slogans.
I saw Orlov, the chairman of Memorial, I was pressed against the magnificent artist Lesha Devotchenko, who, as I understand it, had a broken arm after the previous rally. I asked him to take care, but he remained standing.
All of Tverskaya is crowded with columns of police trucks - from Strastnoy Boulevard along Tverskaya to Triumfalnaya.
Recorded by phone
20:56 UN CSN employees are pushing several hundred protesters in the square to the side of the road. Detentions are carried out in a very rude way: even those who agree to go through on their own are forcibly dragged to paddy wagons.
For the first time in the evening, the opposition managed to coordinate and start chanting the slogans “Putin is a thief!” and “Garbage is the shame of Russia” (although they shout it rather sluggishly).
Evgeny Feldman
20:45 The cordon was removed, and the crowd immediately again filled the free space in the area of the concert hall. The riot police also returned. Police officers pull one person out of the crowd, knock them to the ground (even those who walk calmly on their own) and throw them into the bus. Balance of power: five to one. The crowd shouts to the police: "Fascists!".
The actor Alexander Lazarev Jr. just walked past me, a dialogue broke out between him and the crowd:
- What are you doing with the Nazis?
- Do I look like a Nashist?
They answered him "thank you", and he said: "Thanks to you."
The crowd is chanting “Putin is a thief!”, the police continue to snatch one from the crowd.
Nadezhda Prusenkova
20:34 "Top" Triumphalnaya Square - in the area of the concert hall. Tchaikovsky - cleared: the passage to the metro and the entrance to the station itself were opened.
Youth from pro-Kremlin movements are still beating drums and shouting “Russia! Victory!", if someone near them "charges" "Shame!".
In the crowd they saw the head of the department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moscow for interaction with civil society, Viktor Biryukov.
Nadezhda Prusenkova
20:10 Detentions continue on the square, the police have already taken several dozen activists to paddy wagons. In total, more than a thousand people gathered on the square. The police divided the crowd into three parts: the first part - near the metro building, the second - near the Peking Hotel, the rest of the protesters are standing at the crossing of Triumphal Square.
According to the soldiers of the internal troops, an order was issued "from above" to "cover their faces from photographers."
It became known that the leader of the youth "Yabloko" Kirill Goncharov was detained.
Evgeny Feldman
19:55 Just next to me, the “cosmonauts” severely detained the guy and beat his head against the car. He screams "I didn't do anything".
Nadezhda Prusenkova
19:47 In addition to Boris Nemtsov and Bozhena Rynska, the well-known photographer and blogger Ilya Varlamov and Kommersant correspondent Alexander Chernykh were also detained.
A group of oppositionists tried to break through the OMON cordon towards Tverskaya Street. Now the main forces of the protesters are concentrated near the house of music. Tchaikovsky.
Natalia Zotova
19:40 The exit from the Mayakovskaya metro station in the building of the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall is closed (the second exit, on Tverskaya, is open). Activists of pro-Kremlin movements stand along the concert hall and beat drums, trying to drown out the cries of the opposition: “Shame on United Russia!”
Near the concert hall, "cosmonauts" are operating - employees of the operational regiment. They hit very hard.
At first, the police pushed the protesters along Tverskaya 200 meters towards the Kremlin, but the crowd again returned to the intersection with the Garden Ring.
Nadezhda Prusenkova
19:20 Police officers grab everyone in a row - whether you are a journalist or not, no one understands. Grab hard and immediately on the bus. People are chanting: "Russia without Putin."
At the exit from the metro there are a lot of members of youth movements - Nashists or locals - a distinctive sign: a green cape. It is by this cape, apparently, that the police distinguish them, do not touch them. Young people in green stamp their feet loudly and shout: “Russia! Putin! Victory!".
People all arrive, but the police quickly thin them out, separating them into "boxes".
The situation is heating up.
Evgeny Starshov
19:10 An opposition rally against election fraud has begun on Triumfalnaya Square. Now the area has been cut by the UN staff of the TsSN (former OMON) into at least 2 parts. The police do not let anyone into the square, but everyone who wants to is allowed to go in the direction of Pushkinskaya.
Near the building of the Theater of Satire, several hundred young people in white and green capes, probably members of pro-Kremlin movements. They chant slogans “Russia! Putin! and "Medvedev - victory!". Their chants are accompanied by drum roll members of the youth movement "Steel", which today held a rally on Manezhnaya Square.
Police officers stand between the passage under the colonnade, they react very aggressively to journalists' attempts to photograph them.
The head of Yabloko, Sergei Mitrokhin, and the leader of the youth branch of the party, Kirill Goncharov, walked along the young people in capes. Politicians, holding the Russian flag in their hands, in response to the chants of young people, began to chant “Shame on United Russia!” and "Russia without Putin!".
Four people have already been detained at the action, they are being taken to the police wagons. Law enforcement officials carry out arrests in a rude manner. The exit at the Mayakovskaya metro station is closed to the exit.
Evgeny Feldman