President Vladimir Putin is expected to be inaugurated for another term as president of the Russian Federation, at a ceremony in the Kremlin on Monday, 7 May.
On Saturday anti Putin demonstrators took to the streets of Moscow and other major Russian cities to protest against Putin's rule. Riot police, known as cosmonauts because of their headgear, moved on protestors in Kremlin Square.
As the riot police formed barricades to push protesters out of the square, they ran into the neighboring streets, cheering and clapping and chanting: "Down with the tsar!" and "Putin is a thief!"
More than a thousand people were arrested, including the leader of the protests Alexei Navalny, although he was later released.
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo: Protestors demonstrate against the rule of President Putin close to the Pushkin Monument in Moscow.
