January 31, 2011

Russian police detained several dozen people at anti-Kremlin rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg today as they tried to protest against limits to freedom of assembly.

A crowd of about 600 chanted "Freedom, Freedom!" in sub-zero temperatures on Moscow's Triumph Square, heavily outnumbered by riot police.

Prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has accused Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of allowing corruption to pervade the corridors of power and of building up considerable personal wealth during his 11 years in power at the expense of ordinary Russians.

compiled from agency reports