Dozens detained at authorized Russian Communist Party rally after chants of 'Down with the Tsar'
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Moscow police detained about 60 people at an authorized Communist Party rally on Oct. 4 after participants began chanting anti-Kremlin slogans, according to the party and Russian rights group OVD-Info.
The rally marked the anniversary of Russia's 1993 constitutional crisis, when a standoff between President Boris Yeltsin and hard-line lawmakers culminated in the military shelling the parliament building in Moscow. Authorities said 123 people were killed, while unofficial estimates put the toll in the hundreds.
The Communist Party has organized annual events as a symbol of resistance to Yeltsin-era reforms, but this year's authorized rally took a turn as participants chanted slogans including "Freedom for political prisoners," "For fair elections," and "Down with the Tsar."
OVD-Info says participants also chanted “No to political repression,” “Down with Roskomnadzor,” and “Down with the party of crooks and thieves.”
The event had been authorized by Moscow authorities, but detentions reportedly intensified as the rally was ending and participants shifted toward more directly anti-Kremlin slogans.
According to OVD-Info, around 20 people were initially taken to Moscow's Krasnopresnenskiy police station before the reported total rose to about 60. The detainees were not all Communist Party supporters: 26 were Communist Party participants, 30 were members of the liberal Yabloko party, and several others were activists.
The Communist Party, Russia's main parliamentary opposition, generally aligns with the Kremlin on major national security and foreign policy issues, including support for Russia's war against Ukraine. It occasionally criticizes domestic policy but does not directly challenge President Vladimir Putin's rule.
Russia has pushed harder against political opposition and anti-war activism in recent years. In August, Russia's Supreme Court banned the Yabloko party from participating in upcoming parliamentary elections taking place Sept. 18-20.
In September, authorities arrested members of the banned pro-peace Yabloko party, Anna Shatunovskaya-Byurno and Grigory Grishin, among others, as part of a broader crackdown on dissent and political organizing.
