Russia: Moscow's "March of Millions"

On June 12, Russian political opposition and civic movements held another “March of Millions” mass demonstration in central Moscow. Thousands of protesters gathered at Pushkin Square at noon and walked down the Boulevard Ring to Andrei Sakharov Avenue for a rally and concert by rap and rock musicians who performed a collection of protest songs, “The White Album,” especially for the event. The city administration authorized both the march and the rally. According to media reports, about 50,000 people took part in the event. People of various political convictions joined in the calls for freedom, state accountability, and fair elections. Protesters were especially careful to avoid violating the new restrictive law on public rallies, which sets out exorbitant fines for, among other things, damaging public property. So when marching along the boulevards, protesters took great care to avoid stepping on the grass so as not to give the authorities a pretext to penalize the organizers on those grounds. There was a strong police presence, but no police interference with the protest.