Vladimir Putin has faced a rare show of dissent from his own people, with police cracking down on a protest by Russians calling for his demise.
The Russian dictator finds himself increasingly cornered by his war in Ukraine, which not only poses a direct threat to his life but is also frustrating the oligarch class and everyday Russians.
Russia’s Kremlin-friendly Communist Party held a rally in the capital, Moscow, over the weekend, where people were heard chanting against United Russia and “the tsar”—a reference to Putin.
Around 60 demonstrators were arrested, according to the party, with posts circulating on Telegram channels showing officers entering the crowd and grabbing people amid chaotic scenes.
The party said that the arrests happened as the rally was coming to an end.
Some 2,000 people are thought to have joined the march, including members of the opposition Yabloko party, which opposes Putin and the United Russia party which supports him. Yabloko is the only party officially against the war in Ukraine.
Public protests against Putin are extremely rare and are often met with immediate crackdowns from the police.
Among the chants, demonstrators reportedly called for “Freedom for political prisoners,” “Freedom for Dmitry Morozov,” “For fair elections,” and “Down with the Tsar,” according to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti.
Activist Dmitry Morozov was arrested last week in the aftermath of Russia’s state Duma elections.
Law enforcement is reported by Pravda to have busted into the crowd and started making arrests after chants against Putin began to ring out.
The newspaper said witnesses reported that 26 of the arrested were from the Communist Party, with a further 30 from Yabloko.
The Communist Party said it was working to get those arrested released, the Associated Press reported. It said that most of those detained were young people.
The rally marked the anniversary of Russia’s 1993 constitutional crisis, when the country’s parliament clashed with its president, Boris Yeltsin.
On its 33rd anniversary, the mood in Russia is increasingly bleak. Russians have been subjected to regular strikes on their energy and logistics infrastructure by Ukraine, which has grown increasingly offensive over the summer.
The onslaught has caused huge lines for gas, crippled e-commerce systems, and left towering smoke columns over many of Russia’s cities.
Putin was appointed by Yeltsin in 1999 and has ruled the country for more than a quarter of a century.
The Communist Party has maintained a careful relationship with Putin, not clashing with the 73-year-old while maintaining its position as an opposition party.
On the key issue of the war in Ukraine, the party supports the government.
