"We are not cattle, the election is a boycott!"

The Moscow protest was characterized by a small number of detentions and a large number of youth. The correspondent of The New Times talked with schoolchildren

Photo: David Yakovlev

In Moscow, unlike most other cities, the action was not agreed with the authorities. Navalny submitted an application for an action on Tverskaya Street, but the city hall offered him three alternative sites outside the center of the capital. The opposition refused all the proposed options and called on supporters to enter Tverskaya. The disagreements gathered at the exit of several metro stations, which go to the main street of Moscow.

All of them were allowed except Navalny

At the protest, last year, mass detentions were recorded by Mayakovskaya, but today law enforcement officers have limited themselves to an oral call to disperse. The audience, however, did not follow this call. Some came to Mayakovskaya with Navalny's symbols - red signs “strike” and balls “20! 8”, several people brought Russian flags with them.

The main venue for the action was the Pushkin Square. Along the roadway of the Tver, passionate boulevard, as well as Bolshaya Bronnaya Street, the cordons of police and the Russian Guard were lined up, there were many auto -zaks. People gradually flocked to the square and gathered around the monument to Pushkin.

Photo: Evgeny Feldman for the project "This is Navalny"

The shares were mainly present, there were many minors, some of them were at the street opposition event for the first time

Navalny himself did not reach the monument. He was detained on Tverskaya Street at about 14:30. “I was detained. It does not matter. Come to Tverskaya. You are not for me, but for yourself and your future, ”he called on Twitter his supporters.

Pioneers at the rally

Mostly young people were present, there were many minors, some of them were at the street opposition event for the first time.

“Scary, a lot of police officers,” the schoolboy Maxim shared with NT with NT impressions. Today's action has become for him and his two friends of the first. In order to take part in it, they specially arrived from the Moscow region.

Schoolist Andrei from Moscow also ended up with friends for protest for the first time. In these elections, he and his friends will not be able to vote, however, despite this, they intend to agitate the rest of the people for the boycott.

The gathered at the monument chanted different slogans. In addition to traditional ones - "Freedom of political prisoners!" And “Down with the Power of the Chekists!” Sounded as “fourth term - prison!”, “We are not cattle, elections - boycott!” And "strike!"

At some point, the young man climbed into the lantern next to the monument to Pushkin and began to shout the slogans, lifting up his fist. A little later, his friend climbed into the same lantern. The attention of the protesters switched to the guys: at first they handed them a “strike” sign from below, and then also a large Russian flag.

Reached the Duma and the Government

Closer to 16:00, participants in the action began to leave Pushkinskaya Square. The main part of the protesters of the column moved towards Manezhnaya Square, chanting the slogan “Russia without Putin”. Near the building of the State Duma, the police detained several people who tried to climb on the fence, but the protesters were able to recapture one of them from the police.

In addition to traditional ones - "Freedom of political prisoners!" And “Down with the power of the Chekists!”, Sounded such slogans as “The fourth term - prison!”, “We are not cattle, elections - boycott!” And "strike!"

Later, the participants in the action were divided: some of them remained on the Tverskaya, and the other part reached the new Arbat (where one of the protesters lit a fire, and then, chanting the slogan “Government to resign!”, And to the White House.

At 17:30, the “Navalny team” announced the completion of the action in Moscow and urged supporters to disperse, but not all who came followed this call. So, at about 19:00 p.m. in Pushkinskaya Square a crowd of protesters in chorus sang the Russian anthem.

The metropolitan action of Navalny this time passed quite peacefully and did not turn into mass detentions. According to the OVD-Info, 16 people were detained in Moscow, 257 people in Russia in total. The number of participants in the Moscow campaign, according to various estimates, amounted to from a thousand to 5 thousand people.

Some of the participants in the action remained unhappy with the number of those who came. “Yes, our people are so simple. Even America will not help us, she will say: "Well, what did no one come out?" - the elderly demonstrator complained to his interlocutor.

The first case of January

The participant of the Moscow campaign Konstantin Saltykov, detained on Pushkinskaya Square, can start a criminal case under Art. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (the application of violence in relation to a representative of the authorities), Polina Nemirovskaya, the Open Russian Human Rights Procedure, told Twitter. “He was beaten in Avtosak, beaten in the groin. While the lawyer called an ambulance for a medical examination, they began to take explanations from Konstantin in order to transfer materials for a test of 318, ”she wrote.