Speakers at the opposition rally in Moscow urged the participants not to let Prime Minister Vladimir Putin win the March 4 presidential elections.
“Putin, go away!” the participants chanted, led by liberal politician Ilya Yashin.
Police said the rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad in central Moscow attracted 35,000 to 36,000 people, up several thousand from the estimates they gave two previous protest events in December, which, critics said, severely downplayed the attendance numbers.
Organizers said 120,000 showed up for the event, which was formally billed as a rally against alleged vote rigging at December’s parliamentary elections and the upcoming Kremlin vote.
The rally passed a resolution calling attendants not to vote for Putin in March, as well as calling for the release of “political prisoners.” It also called for the sacking of election head Vladimir Churov, who is accused of covering-up large-scale fraud during the parliamentary vote, and the liberalization of political legislation.
Speakers at the rally were a mixed bunch, ranging from nationalist leader Alexander Belov to writers Lyudmila Ulitskaya and Boris Akunin. Former TV host Leonid Parfyonov and failed presidential candidate Grigory Yavlinsky, who was denied a place on the ballots by the authorities, also gave speeches.
The sole presidential candidate to attend was billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who did not give a speech.
Staunch leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov denied allegations that the rally was staged by the U.S. State Department in his speech, a key point for speakers at a pro-Putin rally held elsewhere in the city on the same day.
“That’s bullsh*t,” Udaltsov said.
The rally was concluded with a song from Russian rock star Yury Shevchuk, whose acoustic performance was accompanied by a host of white balloons which were let loose by participants of the rally, who chanted along with the singer.
The next protest rally is tentatively set for February 26, rally host Vladimir Ryzhkov announced.
