At least 2,000 people gathered on Pushkin Square on Saturday 23 of October to call for an end to the war in the Chechen Republic. It was one of the largest antiwar protests in years and also provided a rare public platform for broader criticism of President Vladimir Putin´s rule.

Protesters listened to speeches from prominent antiwar figures and chanted slogans like “Peace in Chechnya!” and “Down With Putin´s Politics!”

They held “No to War” balloons and signs that said “Putin Is Killing Our Freedom,” but they also held posters of jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Protest.The protest, which began under gray skies at 4 p.m. and lasted for about two hours, was organized by For Human Rights and the Committee for Antiwar Activities and supported by the Committee 2008.

Lev Ponomaryov, head of For Human Rights, focused attention on Putin´s plans to scrap elections for regional governors and abolish single-mandate seats in the State Duma.

Speakers included prominent human rights activist Valeria Novodvorskaya, journalist Anna Politkovskaya, State Duma Deputy Oleg Shein of Rodina and Vladimir Kara-Murza of Committee 2008.

“Someone has to stop shooting first in this war,” Politkovskaya said. “The residents of our country should demand this of the Russian authorities. Only in this way can we create peace in the Russian Federation.”

The protest also drew participants angry at the increased role of the security services under Putin and the proliferation of criminal cases they see as politically motivated.

Several participants brandished signs reading, “Free Russian Political Prisoners,” with a list that included Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, Alexei Pichugin, Mikhail Trepashkin and Igor Sutyagin.