Over 200 Anti-Government Protesters Arrested in Russia

Russian authorities announced on Sunday, November 5, that over 260 individuals were arrested following simultaneous anti-government protests by nationalists and the National Unity Day celebrations in Moscow. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that police detained 263 people during an unauthorized demonstration held near the walls of the Kremlin. The Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted a police official saying that 'most of the detainees were carrying knives, brass knuckles, and special guns for firing rubber bullets.' The name of this police official was not disclosed, and no other sources have reported this information. A journalist from a radio network in Moscow, Andrei Yezhov, tweeted that he was among those arrested but was later released without any charges. He added that most of the detainees were around 20 years old. Meanwhile, the NGO 'OVD-Info,' which monitors news related to the repression of protesters in Russia, reported on Sunday that the total number of detainees in the country was 237, of which 212 were in Moscow and 25 in six other cities: St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, and Rostov-on-Don. This organization did not provide further details. On Saturday, November 4, police also arrested several nationalist protesters during an anti-government demonstration in Moscow. Vyacheslav Maltsev, leader of the movement known as 'Artillery Bombardment' and a critic of the Russian government who is in voluntary exile outside the country, announced on YouTube that Russia is ready for an 'revolution' at the end of this week. The Federal Security Service of Russia announced on Friday, November 3, that several members of a conspiratorial group belonging to this movement were arrested in Moscow. This security agency claimed that these individuals were plotting to incite chaos by attacking police and government buildings. The news network RBK also reported, citing an anonymous source in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, that during a series of other attacks that took place on Saturday in Moscow and its surrounding areas, several members of the 'Artillery Bombardment' movement were arrested. In this context, the United States condemned the arrest of protesters in Russia. The Russian police arrested a blogger and several others on charges of violence during the protests. The Russian police also arrested the leader of the opposition to Putin on the eve of the protest. Protests against the Kremlin were held in several Russian cities, and Russian officials reported the release of all detainees from the gatherings on Saturday.