More than a thousand people were arrested in different cities of Russia

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More than a thousand people were detained this Saturday in Russia during the demonstrations organized by supporters of the opposition Alexei Navalny to demand their release, despite pressure from the authorities.

From Moscow to Vladivostok, the team of the anti-corruption activist, victim of a poisoning a few months ago, launched calls to demonstrate in 65 Russian cities .

The first demonstrations took place in the Far East and in Siberia, where several thousand people took to the streets in Vladivostok, Kabarovsk, Novossibirsk and Tchita, according to supporters of the opponent, shouting: Freedom for Navalni! Freedom for political prisoners!, In front of important members of the riot police.

One of the protesters, a retiree, in Vladivostok said, If I were not here I would be ashamed to look into the eyes of my children and my grandchildren.

In Yakutsk, south of the Arctic Circle, a hundred people braved the extreme cold of -50 degrees to demonstrate.

Some 300 people were detained in about twenty Russian cities until early in the afternoon, according to the NGO OVD-Info, which specializes in reporting on arrests in the context of demonstrations. That number grew with the passing of the hours and exceeded a thousand .

The arrests were particularly brutal in Vladivostok, Russia's Pacific Ocean port, where riot police beat protesters with batons.

In Moscow , where the protests are always more massive, there was a demonstration in Pushkin Square . An hour before the event, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (11:00 GMT), anti-riot agents, deployed in great numbers, detained people suspected of wanting to participate one by one.

The Moscow police had already warned that they will "suppress" any unauthorized protest that they consider a threat to public order. The mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobianin, denounced unacceptable demonstrations in the middle of a pandemic.

On the social network Instagram, Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya announced that she intends to demonstrate in Moscow for her husband, who never gives up.