There is nothing to walk here and we interfere

The participants in the action on May 5 in St. Petersburg occupied Nevsky and tried to block it. Report "Medusa"

On May 5, the rally of protest, “He is not our king”, announced by Alexei Navalny, was held throughout Russia. She was the most large -scale in Moscow, where the Cossacks attacked the participants of the action, and the police detained more than 700 people. As always, a demonstration in St. Petersburg became mass - here the participants in the action went through an unauthorized procession along Nevsky Prospekt and even tried to resist riot police, building barriers. Maxim Yarygin watched what was happening at the request of Medusa.

For the action “He is not a king” in St. Petersburg, the supporters of Alexei Navalny agreed to gather at two in the afternoon in the very center of the city - on Palace Square. However, long before the local bikers planned to start their motorcyzes long before, on the eve of May 5, it became known that they decided to hold a drill at almost five thousand military men in the square.

As a result, the participants in the action, leaving the metro, asked each other: "Where to go?" Palace was blocked from all sides. Motorcyclists smoked exhaust gases, burned rubber and were not tuned to protest. After a little observing the bike show, the protesters began to gather near the square-in the Alexander Garden.

After 15 minutes, two people - one with a small rubber duck, the other with the flag of Russia - began a procession in the park. A column moved behind them, the participants of which shouted the slogans: “The fourth term is prison”, “Down with the king”, “Yesterday Armenia, Tomorrow Russia”, “There is no Telegram blocking”. The famous large rubber duck appeared, a regular participant in such St. Petersburg shares (on June 12, 2017 it was even delayed ). Under approving cries, people threw a yellow rubber poultry into the air. Immediately activists of the Solidarity movement arose, who tried to distribute the newspaper to like -minded people:

“We have free news here,” they reported to the demonstrators.

“This is the last century to read the news in newspapers,” someone answered them. - We do not need this.

Soon, three or four thousand protesters reached Nevsky Prospekt-and went straight to the roadway, actually blocked it. However, the movement on the main street of St. Petersburg has already been blocked - a few days ago in several of its sections they began to change asphalt, announcing that this was happening on the eve of the World Cup. Along the sidewalks on this occasion, plastic and metal fences were exhibited - people at the forefront of the protesters began to overturn them; Other supporters soon joined them.

- Come on, destroy all these fences! Someone exclaimed.

-What does the fences have to do with it? Their road workers put them! Return everything to the place, ”one of the participants in the action tried to umbie up the associates. His voice was already ripped off.

At first, the police did not interfere with the procession along Nevsky - but through the loudspeakers began to demand that the demonstrators return to the sidewalks. However, almost no one listened to orders. Then, in order to stop the movement of people, the police lined up in a small chain, blocking Nevsky at the intersection with Vladimir Prospekt. In response, the protesters stopped, skipped several times: “We are waiting for the rest” - and when the rest pulled themselves up, they closed the chain, holding hands. Under the cries of "Down with the king!" The crowd ran to the police - and almost easily broke through the cordon, falling to the next section of Nevsky.

There they were already waiting for riot police and trucks who blocked the street closer to the uprising area. Having lined up in the column, the riot police went towards the demonstrators. In response, they took several metal fences and plastic fences and put them in front of them. However, they could not stop riot police - in the area of ​​Marat Street, police officers attacked the protesters with batons in their hands; Some fell and continued to beat on the ground.

The demonstrators retreated - the police managed to divide them into several groups, and the number of participants in the action gradually began to decrease. The local headquarters of Navalny in his telegram channel reported a new plan: to move back towards Palace-but the police were waiting for the Demonstrators at the Gostiny Dvor. The detentions continued and were again tough - many activists were first beaten, and then put in auto -zaks. A couple of hundreds of people in a roundabout way managed to reach the Isaacievsky Cathedral - people were also detained there.

One of the protesters nevertheless could return to Palace Square-she was still blocked: there, by that time, a military show was walking in full swing. In the square near the Hermitage, riot police delayed almost everyone indiscriminately - several policemen allocated the intended target from the crowd, poured a man to the ground and led to a car gut.

“They have nothing to do, they have nothing to do,” one of the riot police complained to his colleague.

- How, by the way, rested in nature? Fine? - asked another friend.

At this time, the team sounded from his walkie -talkie: "Winch, twin." As a result, according to the OVD-Info at 20:00 Moscow time, 229 people were detained in St. Petersburg. As in Moscow, among them there were several journalists at once - from Mediazons, Business Petersburg and the local Echo of Moscow; However, they were released almost immediately.

-Why do you detain journalists? They are working here too, ”someone said to the police.

Hearing this, the lieutenant colonel of the police smiled and muttered: "There is nothing to walk here and we interfere."

Maxim Yarygin , "Echo of Moscow in St. Petersburg"