Thousands protest across Russia

Thousands rallied across Russia on Saturday to denounce government economic policy and falling living standards under Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Police detained 70 people and broke up a demonstration in Moscow, one of about 50 in a nationwide "Day of Anger" organized by a coalition of opposition groups.

The rallies were protesting Russia's stagnant economy and rising unemployment rates, which now stand at above 9 percent. Last year, gross domestic product fell by about 8 percent, the country's worst performance since 1994.

At least 1,500 people turned out in the Pacific port of Vladivostok, while about 1,000 rallied in Saint Petersburg and hundreds gathered in several other cities.

In January, 10,000 people gathered in the western city of Kaliningrad to protest local and federal issues, one of the largest demonstrations in a decade.

Protesters call for free speech, elections

"People have no work and they are fed up," Ivan Fotodtov, a 26-year-old web designer in Vladivostok, told the Reuters news agency. Many protesters called for Putin's resignation and demanded free speech and free elections.

"The mood has changed, but it has not yet turned into a movement," Masha Lipman, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, told Reuters. But she said that for micromanagers in the Kremlin "the stakes are extremely high."

Local elections last week showed support for Putin's United Russia party has dropped since the start of the economic crisis.

cmk/AFP/AP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer