Russian courts have started to hand down jail terms to demonstrators arrested at a series of anti-corruption protests across the country on Monday.

Several protesters in Moscow and St Petersburg were on Tuesday sentenced to 15 days in jail, including Ilya Yashin, the opposition leader and political partner of Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015.

Investigators also announced that charges of assaulting police officers, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years, would be launched against at least two people.

The protests, called by opposition politician Alexei Navalny, drew several thousand people in Moscow and Petersburg, as well as smaller numbers in dozens of other cities.

According to a rights monitoring group, 800 people were detained in Moscow and 900 in St Petersburg. Police have officially stated that there were 650 detentions across the two cities. Many of these people were released but may face court cases or fines in the coming days and weeks.



Navalny was detained outside his home before the protest. Late on Monday he was sentenced to 30 days in prison for calling people to an unsanctioned protest. He has been jailed on many occasions before, including for 15 days after the last major protest in late March.

“I saw the photos and you were awesome,” Navalny said in a video message to supporters shortly after the verdict. “I’m proud that I’m in the same movement as you.”

Navalny has stated his intention to stand for president next March, opening volunteer bases in cities around the country over the past months, as well as organising protests against government corruption.

It is almost certain he will not be allowed onto the ballot, and authorities have to decide how to handle his protest movement, which has shown it can mobilise tens of thousands of young Russians across the country.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian parliament, said on Tuesday the current president was the only candidate people should vote for in the election.

“For those who want a future for Russia, wellbeing for the country and its citizens and a peaceful sky over their heads, there is only one candidate – Vladimir Putin,” he told the Russian website Life.

Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the “provocative acts” of the opposition were “dangerous to bystanders” and would be met with the full force of the law.



Authorities had previously refused to grant Navalny permission to hold rallies in central Moscow, but this time they agreed, offering a reasonably central space. At the last minute, Navalny changed the venue to Tverskaya Street, where a city-organised historical fair was taking place, citing pressure from the authorities on suppliers that made it impossible to hire speakers and equipment for the venue.

Some in the protest movement felt it was needlessly provocative to move the location, but thousands of people still turned out. They were engaged in a standoff with riot police for several hours, causing surreal scenes as they mingled with costumed medieval knights and men in second world war uniforms who were on the street for the historical reenactments.

Separately, Ukrainian news outlets identified one of the commanding officers of the riot police in central Moscow as Sergei Kusyuk, who was formerly the deputy commander of the Berkut riot police in Kiev and took part in the crackdown on the Maidan protests against President Viktor Yanukovych.

When Yanukovych was toppled in February 2014, many of the Berkut commanders fled to Russia to avoid prosecution for their role in suppressing the Kiev protests. Kusyuk, who is wanted on criminal charges in Ukraine, is now apparently commanding Russian anti-riot troops.

There was no official confirmation that the man pictured was indeed Kusyuk.