Russia:Russian police clashed with dissidents in the country's two largest cities over the weekend, detaining hundreds of protesters, including chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov.
Saturday's clashes in Moscow were repeated again yesterday in St Petersburg, when riot police broke up a crowd of about 3,000 members of the Other Russia movement, detaining a second prominent critic, Edward Limonov, the leader of a banned political party.
Police insisted that since neither march was officially sanctioned, the groups were not entitled to stage demonstrations. The latest clashes follow similar incidents recently, as violent confrontations with the authorities become more frequent.
Although the number of protesters who turned out on Saturday was about 1,000 - far lower than Mr Kasparov had predicted - 9,000 police prevented them from assembling at Pushkinskaya, one of the city's main squares. Nevertheless up to a quarter of the critics, about 250, were arrested.
Even before the march began, Mr Kasparov and his five bodyguards were detained by police and fined 1,000 roubles, about €35, for holding an unsanctioned gathering. Cameramen, photographers and journalists covering the event for foreign media were also briefly held by police.
Moscow defended the police actions, insisting that since a pro-Kremlin youth group had booked the square one minute before the dissidents, they were entitled to use the space instead, in a manoeuvre condemned by the Other Russia leaders as a transparent attempt to silence them.
Charged with shouting anti-government slogans, Mr Kasparov said the reaction of the police proved that his sharp criticism was justified.
"The regime showed its true colours, its true face. I believe this was a great victory for the opposition because people got through and the march happened," he said.
A small group of about 500 managed to evade the police and walk through the city, where they held a short rally before being dispersed into nearby metro entrances.
Others arrested included the country's former prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov and Masha Gaidar, the daughter of another former prime minister, Yegor Gaidar.
Mr Kasparov was unable to attend the subsequent St Petersburg rally because of his arrest, though his personal aide was detained in the city even before reaching the site of the protest.
The protesters said they did not seek to provoke clashes with the police and insisted that the detentions were in breach of Russia's constitution.
The confrontations in St Petersburg were more violent yesterday, with at least 170 arrests, including Mr Limonov, the leader of the National Bolshevik party.
"Our demand is the resignation of the government and the president, and free and fair elections this year and next," he told the crowd just before being dragged away by riot police. Protesters held up banners proclaiming "revolution" and "freedom".
Defending their action, the St Petersburg police said they only moved in when provoked by some of the protesters who had tried to breach the police cordons.
Last night, Mr Kasparov announced that he would challenge his arrest in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, arguing that his in camera hearing at the weekend was in violation of his rights.
Newspapers in Russia were recently warned not to refer to Mr Limonov's group as a political party since it has not formally registered with authorities.
The weekend clashes received more widespread coverage internationally than in Russia, with Germany's main television channel, ZDF, giving the march prominent coverage after two of its cameramen were held.
In much of the Russian media, the reporting was more circumspect, pointing out that police were forced to arrest demonstrators who attempted to hold an unauthorised rally in order to maintain public order.
Although President Putin's regime officially enjoys strong public support, Mr Kasparov claims that the lack of an informed public debate through the media prevents the growing public dissatisfaction being voiced except through protests.
The weekend clashes coincided with comments by the exiled oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, who claimed he would support efforts from London to provoke revolution in Russia to forcibly eject Mr Putin from office. Mr Putin ignored the critics, but the karate black belt did attend a weekend martial arts festival in St Petersburg, where Russian athletes took on their American counterparts.
Mr Putin's critics say he has gradually eroded democratic rights in the country since taking office in 2000. The Kremlin insists that Mr Putin has restored order in Russia, turned the economy around and has no reason to justify his actions to a small minority of "extremists".