Photos from across Russia during the rallies in support of Alexey Navalny on April 21
Kirill Kukhmar / TASS Protesters at the rally in Novosibirsk
On April 21, thousands of people in cities across Russia took to the streets in a show of solidarity with opposition politician Alexey Navalny, who has been on a prison hunger strike since March 31. Compared to the police response at the pro-Navalny protests earlier this year, the April 21st demonstrations saw relatively fewer arrests. That said, more than 1,900 people still ended up in police custody, and most of these detentions took place in St. Petersburg. Here’s what the protests looked like outside of Moscow.
Vladivostok
Pavel Korolev / AFP / Scanpix / LETA Protesters carrying a giant orange duck, harking back to team Navalny’s first major anti-corruption investigation into the illicit wealth of former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The investigation sparked large-scale rallies in Russia in 2017.Yuri Maltsev / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Protesters in Vladivostok standing behind a monument to Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin.Yuri Smityuk / TASS / Scanpix / LETA In total, 500 people took to the streets to protest in Vladivostok
Khabarovsk
Igor Volkov / Kommersant Protesters dancing in a circle on Lenin Square in Khabarovsk. Meanwhile, a police officer with a megaphone demands that they clear the area.Igor Volkov / AP / Scanpix / LETA Police preparing for the April 21st protest. In the background is Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address, being broadcast on a giant screen.
Novosibirsk
Kirill Kukhmar / TASS Protesters on Lenin Square in Novosibirsk holding up their cell phone flashlightsKirill Kukhmar / TASS / Scanpix / LETA An estimated 2,500 people joined the rally in NovosibirskKirill Kukhmar / TASS / Scanpix / LETA The protest in Novosibirsk took place without any arrests
Ulan-Ude
Anna Ogorodnik / AP / Scanpix / LETA Security officials (including a plainclothes officer) arresting a protesters in Ulan-Ude. At least 10 people were detaiend during the rally.
Omsk
Alexey Malgavko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Approximately 1,000 people attended the rally in support of Navalny in OmskAlexey Malgavko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA A protesters with a sign that reads “Putin is a killer” Alexey Malgavko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Three protesters were detained during the rally in Omsk.
Chelyabinsk
Nail Fattakhov / Znak.com An estimated 2,000 people took part in the protest in ChelyabinskNail Fattakhov / Znak.com At least nine protesters were detained at the Chelyabinsk rally
Yekaterinburg
Donat Sorkin / TASSS Estimates of the number of protesters at the rally in Yekaterinburg range from 5,000 to 13,000 peopleDonat Sorkin / TASS / Vida Press Former Yekaterinburg mayor Evgeny Royzman joined the rallyDonat Sorkin / TASS At least nine people were detained in Yekaterinburg
Orenburg
Alena Gnidenko / TASS Protesters dancing in a circle in Orenburg, where, according to media estimates, around 200 people took to the streets.
Kazan
Artem Dergunov / TASS Security forces on Kazan’s Bauman StreetArtem Dergunov / TASS Kazan was one of the leading cities in terms of the number of arrests — at least 49 people were detained
Rostov-on-Don
Erik Romanenko / TASS Protesters holding up their cell phone flashlights in Rostov-on-Don
St. Petersburg
Anton Vaganov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA In St. Petersburg, law enforcement officers actively used stun guns while detaining protestersAnton Vaganov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA A protester carrying a Russian flag marching in a crowd in the city centerAnton Vaganov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA More than 800 people were detained in St. PetersburgPyotr Kovalev / TASS / Vida Press A police car blocking the path of protesters
Kaliningrad
Vitaly Nevar / TASS Hundreds of people took to the streets in KaliningradVitaly Nevar / TASS In Kaliningrad, 22 people were detained
