DISCONTENT

Dozens Arrested in Russian Protests Against Putin

Demonstrators demanded the former KGB man not run for president next year.

Protesters in cities across Russia on Saturday gathered to call for President Vladimir Putin’s resignation. The rallies were mostly peaceful, but dozens of demonstrators were reportedly arrested, with hordes of riot police deployed for the event. In Moscow, the protest was organized by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia foundation, a group that was banned and deemed “undesirable” days earlier by the General Prosecutor’s Office. The protest came in response to speculation that Putin will run for office in the 2018 presidential election, paving the way for his fourth term. Demonstrators on Saturday, with handwritten appeals for Putin to step down, said the former KGB man’s rule has only been detrimental to the country. “Nothing positive has happened in our country on his watch and I have the sense that things are getting worse, and that the main problem is the fact that those in power are the same,” one protester, identified only as Anna, told Reuters.