Nearly 1,000 arrested in Russia in nationwide anti-corruption protests

MOSCOW — Authorities detain Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and nearly 1,000 of his supporters on Monday, as they mount demonstrations across the nation against government corruption.

The protests are the second mass action since March called by Navalny, who has announced his intention to run for president next year and has drawn a new generation to the streets through a relentless online campaign.

Over 200 are detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg an hour into the protest, according to an NGO that tracks arrests, with Navalny himself picked up by police as he was headed to the event.

On central Moscow’s Tverskaya Street, a helicopter hovered overhead as riot police lined up and pushed back against the crowd, grabbing people and leading them to police vans as others shouted “Shame!”, “Putin is a thief!” and “Freedom to Navalny!”

The action also draws thousands to the streets in cities across Russia, with authorities sanctioning some gatherings and banning others. Some reports say authorities threatened university students with expulsion if they attended.

The 41-year-old Navalny’s anti-corruption videos have needled the country’s most powerful and drawn to the streets crowds unseen since a wave of protests against President Vladimir Putin’s reelection for a third term in 2012.

— AFP