“Down with the Tsar” / Dozens of people were detained in Moscow after a communists’ rally turned into a protest against the Kremlin

Dozens of people were detained in Moscow on Sunday during a demonstration organized by the Communist Party to commemorate the victims of Russia’s 1993 constitutional crisis. The protest, authorized by the authorities, took on a strong anti-government tone after participants chanted messages calling for the release of political prisoners, fair elections and opposition to the Kremlin.

According to the human rights organization OVD-Info, cited by The Independent, the number of detainees rose from approximately 20 to around 60 toward the end of the demonstration. Among those taken to the police station were reportedly 26 participants associated with the Communist Party, 30 members of the liberal Yabloko party and other activists. Police reportedly intervened after the chants intensified, including those against political repression and Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications and internet regulator.

The gathering marked 33 years since the confrontation between President Boris Yeltsin and the lawmakers who opposed him, which ended in 1993 with the army intervening and shelling the Russian Parliament building in Moscow.

The protest is unusual because the Communist Party, the main parliamentary opposition party, does not generally directly challenge Vladimir Putin’s rule and supports positions close to those of the Kremlin on major issues, including the war in Ukraine. The demonstration took place amid the conflict and tensions between Russia and the West.