Unauthorized Protests Over In Most Major Cities Of Western Russia

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st January, 2021) Unauthorized protests have concluded in most of major cities in western Russia, Sputnik correspondents reported Sunday.

Unauthorized protests took place in several Central Federal District cities, including Yaroslavl, Ryazan, Kostroma and Voronezh. In Southern Russia, protests occurred in Volgograd and Krasnodar, while in the northwestern region protest were reported in St.Petersburg, Murmansk and Kaliningrad. In most of those places, save for St.Petersburg, the rallies have been finished.

There have been varying numbers of arrests by the police, with the largest one, 42, was reported from Volgograd.

Meanwhile, Moscow has reopened seven subway stations that were shut down ahead of the unauthorized protests.

"Mosmetro [the Moscow Metro]: all stations are working as usual," the city's transport department said on Telegram.

The stations in question are Aleksandrovskiy sad, Okhotniy Ryad, Lubyanka, Teatralnaya, Kitay Gorod, Ploschad Revolyutsii, Kuznetskiy Most, which were closed starting 05:00 GMT.

For the second consecutive weekend, the country has been hit by unauthorized protests in support of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, who was detained in Moscow earlier this month upon his arrival at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Before Navalny's return to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for his alleged poisoning, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service warned it would arrest him for probation violations as he was previously found guilty of committing two administrative offenses.