Several hundred protestors from a Russian opposition movement held a demonstration in Moscow on February, 21 calling for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to resign.
This was the first time local authorities have allowed the recently formed movement called Solidarnost to hold an anti-government demonstration.
Solidarnost, which groups together left-wing activists and human rights defenders, was launched in December by former chess champion and Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov.
The organizers said 400 people took part in the rally, while Russian media put the crowd at more than 300.
“The crisis is neither financial, nor economic, but deep and systemic,” Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister turned opposition leader, told the crowd.
“We demand the unconditional end of this government and call for new elections in six months,” Kasyanov said, referring to the presidential election not due until 2012.
Activists blamed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev for the crisis, chanting “down with the authorities” and holding banners saying “Putin plus Medvedev equals crisis.”
During the peaceful rally, police detained seven pro-government demonstrators who climbed onto an overlooking building and attempted to unfurl a banner than ran “Stop rocking the boat!”
