Most of the rallies in support of presidential candidate Vladimir Putin that took place in the regions on Saturday attracted far more participants than the organizers had planned. In St. Petersburg, according to the Interior Ministry, there were 60,000 people, while the declared number was 20,000. The protesters held posters reading "Putin is our president," "Putin is our guarantor," and "Putin is a cutie." The rally lasted an hour, with the participants leaving on identical buses. That same day, the city authorities refused to approve the opposition's march and rally for 30,000 people on February 26.

In Kostroma, a rally in support of Putin, declared as a sports festival, took place at the city skating rink, admission during the rally was free. The police counted 5,200 participants with an agreed 1,000.

In Izhevsk, 5,000 people came out to support Putin instead of the announced 3,000; the protesters warmed themselves with free tea. In Novosibirsk, the agreed number was exceeded by 1.5 times, in Khabarovsk – by 4 times. The organizer of one rally was detained – in Ivanovo, where 6,000 listeners gathered for the concert “For Stability”, twice as many as agreed: the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the organizers violated Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, the maximum penalty is 2,000 rubles.

The first rally in support of Putin, which attracted too many participants, took place on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow on February 4. The plan of 15,000 people was exceeded, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, by almost 10 times. The organizers were fined 1,000 rubles, Putin promised to pay part of the fine.

The next major rally of Putin supporters is scheduled for February 23. At the suggestion of the authorities and with the consent of Putin himself, the rally was moved from the center of Moscow to Luzhniki; instead of the planned 200,000 people, 80,000 will take part in it.

On Saturday evening, a rally of supporters of the Prime Minister, "Avtopati," took place in Moscow. According to the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs, 2,000 cars took part in the rally, which did not create any obstacles to traffic. A similar rally by Putin's opponents last Sunday drew criticism from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, with the participants accused of causing traffic jams.

The large number of rallies should demonstrate the uncontrolled growth of support for Putin from below, says political scientist Alexei Makarkin, while the small numbers in applications insure the organizers against a failure to turn out.

Putin's supporters have exceeded the plan by several times