While the opposition was beaten on Nevsky, a concert was going on at the palace

More than 100 people were detained on the May Day actions in Russia. The most massive detentions are in St. Petersburg

In the cities of Russia, more than a hundred May Day actions have passed. In nine cities, they ended with the detention of the participants. More than 60 people were detained in St. Petersburg - the police did not allow opposition activists to go along Nevsky Prospekt with the Banner of Petersburg v. Osra. Medusa tells the main thing about the May Day detentions.

Activists in St. Petersburg began to be detained even before the procession

The detention began in the early morning of May 1. At about 7:30 the police detained the participant in the “ unlimited protest ” of Roman Samoilov in his room in a student dormitory. A little later, three activists of the Opposition Movement “Spring” and six feminists were detained - they gathered for the May Day procession, but they were detained next to the space of the feminist project “Eve of Eve”.

The procession itself began only about 11 hours. The demonstration consisted of three columns. In the first, representatives of United Russia and Trade Unions were going on, headed by the act of the acting governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov. The second column was formed by representatives of the Communist Party. The third is democratic parties and movements (“Yabloko”, “Open Russia”, supporters of Alexei Navalny and so on). This column was divided into separate sections. Representatives of Yabloko went with the slogan "Free Petersburg - Free Elections." Supporters of Navalny, “Open Russia” and several more movements carried a large banner of “Petersburg v. Osra”.

Also in the procession, Libertarians, LGBT activists, anarchists and representatives of other informal movements took part in the procession. According to Smolny, in total it collected 100 thousand participants.

During the procession, the police tightly detained the opposition

From the very beginning of the procession, OMON followed the opposition column. The police fenced the column with a metal framework, did not allow them to go to Nevsky Prospekt and asked to wait - the activists chanted “Skip!” And "Putin! Skis! Magadan! ” The police in response warned that she regarding the behavior of activists as an inconsistent rally. Several people from the column were detained before the start of the procession.

About 12 o’clock in the opposition column nevertheless moved away, but literally immediately rested on the riot police chain, the detention continued. After that, the demonstrators stopped and demanded to release his associates. The police in response suggested that the participants still reach the final point of the procession at the Finland Station. The police considered all the stops of the participants in the procession to arrange an inconsistent rally.

The column, which either stood, or tried to slowly move with the chanting of slogans like “Russia without Putin”, was constantly erected by the police in helmets and body armor, detaining individual active participants. Including detained activists who carried the posters “Putin is not eternal” and “Beglov to Sobchak”. Participants in the procession note that the detentions were tough, the police used force. One of the detainees, photographer Georgy Markov, said that the police beat him. According to him, he was beaten on the ribs and the back of the head. The police dropped one of the participants in the action on the asphalt during the detention - she was taken to the hospital from the police department. About injuries, including fractures and serious bruises, several more participants in the procession said.

Updated . Olga Guseva, deputy chief of the St. Petersburg Headquarters of Smart Voting, reported that Natalia Barinova, who was dropped on asphalt in St. Petersburg during the detention, was diagnosed with a fracture of the shoulder joint with a shift.

At about 13:30, the police completely took the column in the ring, mass detentions began. According to the initial plan, the procession was supposed to end near the monument to Lenin at the Finland Station, where the rally was supposed to take place, but in the end, the opposition were able to pass only 400 meters along Nevsky Prospekt. The first two columns of the procession, in which representatives of United Russia and the Communist Party were going on, no one interfered.

According to the OVD-Info, at least 66 people were detained during the May Day procession in St. Petersburg. Among them are activists of “unlimited protest” and “spring”, supporters of Alexei Navalny and two journalists. The deputy of the Legislative Assembly Maxim Reznik, Executive Director of Open Russia Andrei Pivovarov and the coordinator of the headquarters of Navalny in St. Petersburg Denis Mikhailov were also detained.

While the police beat and detain the opposition on Nevsky Prospekt, a festive concert was held on Palace Square - there were columns of trade unions and United Russia. The concert was also performed by the acting governor Alexander Beglov - he congratulated those gathered on the holiday of spring and labor.

Detentions took place in other cities

In total, at the moment, more than 120 people in nine cities of Russia are known about the detentions. A year ago, 53 people were detained at the May Day actions.

Most (66 people) were detained in St. Petersburg. In Petropavlovsk, Kamchatsky was detained at least 16 people, including members of Yabloko, the Communist Party and Fair Russia. According to some activists, they were detained because they came to the action in yellow vests - following the example of the French protest movement.

There were also detentions in Veliky Novgorod, Krasnodar, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kursk, Syktyvkar and Makhachkala. In Makhachkala, the police detained the organizer and four participants in Monstrium - a procession parody of the May Day demonstrations. The city authorities refused to coordinate it "in connection with the preserved terrorist threat." The organizers challenged the refusal in court and decided to still hold the action. Even before the start of the events, the police took the folded posters from the activists, broke them and threw them away.

Many of the detainees in the cities of Russia have already been released from the police departments. Including police officers after the “preventive conversation” released the St. Petersburg deputy Maxim Reznik - he returned from Avtosak without a boot and with a bruise on his hand. Parts of the detainees are charged with violation of the rules of public events (20.2 Administrative Code).

Updated . According to the OVD-Info, in a day in ten cities of Russia, 126 people were detained in connection with the May Day actions. Of these, there is now one person in the police department - video blogger Nikita Zabazov from St. Petersburg. Most of the detainees were released without protocols, some drawn up protocols on a violation of the order of the mass event.

Pavel Merzlikin , St. Petersburg