MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2021) Some 4,000 protesters gathered in Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square, about a mile north of the Kremlin, on Saturday, police told Sputnik.
"Around 4,000 people have gathered in Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow for an unsanctioned event," the police said.
Scuffles broke out when riot police began to get targeted by projectile water bottles and eggs, leading to several detentions.
Moscow's Traffic Management Center, for its part, said that protesters have begun to pour over sidewalks and into oncoming traffic, which may lead to traffic disruptions in the city.
The police were eventually able to push the raving mob away from the square's landmark Pushkin monument. By 4 p.m., some 2,600 people had left the area by subway, the transport authority said on Telegram.
"We ask you to delay travel to the city center," the authority said, adding people should follow social distancing rules.
Nationwide protests were called after jailed opposition activist Alexey Navalny was detained last Sunday upon arrival from Germany, where he was treated for his alleged poisoning. The 44-year-old was placed in custody for 30 days for violating probation terms on an earlier embezzlement conviction.
