Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who’s been barred from taking part in the March 18 vote, was dragged roughly by police into a bus shortly after he arrived at the demonstration on Moscow’s central thoroughfare, Tverskaya Street, according to a live video feed from the scene.
“I’ve been detained. That doesn’t matter. Come to Tverskaya. You’re not coming out for me, but for yourself and your future,” he wrote on Twitter moments afterward.
He had called on his supporters to rally in more than 100 cities in a bid to put more pressure on the Kremlin after a series of mass protests last year. Police reported protests in more than two dozen cities, according to official media. About 90 people were detained in cities in eastern and central Russia by 2 p.m. Sunday in Moscow, according to OVD-Info, a monitoring group.
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