The organizers of a rally in support of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin oppose a proposal from Moscow city hall to move their planned February 23 march and rally to one of two parks several kilometers from the Kremlin, deputy head of Putin’s campaign staff Aleksei Anisimov said.
The organizers had applied for a rally attended by up to 200,000 people on Manezhnaya Square next to the Kremlin walls. City hall responded with a proposal that attendance be reduced to 100,000 and the venue moved to Poklonnaya Gora park or the Luzhniki sports complex.
“We do not agree with the position of the Moscow government and their demand to reduce the number of participants to 100,000 people and move it to Luzhniki or Poklonnaya Gora,” Anisimov said.
The organizers had planned to march from Belarussky railway station along one of Moscow's main thoroughfares to Manezhnaya Square, he said.
“We will not be able to arrange this at the proposed sites. That’s why we insist on our original route and the original number of participants,” Anisimov said.
