The planned opposition march in central Moscow in underway, with thousands of demonstrators reportedly streaming through central a central boulevard en route to the rally point.
Columns of protesters have filed through the city as part of the “March of Millions,” waving flags and sporting placards denouncing the Kremlin and poking fun at the leadership.
Among the more popular topics are President Vladimir Putin’s recent stunt in which led a flock of Siberian cranes to their migration point while piloting a hang glider, as well as the two-year sentence handed down last month to three members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot for their raucus performance in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in February.
The movement’s trademark white ribbons and balloons are also on full display, as are the traditional chants, “Putin is a thief!” and “We, here, are the power!”
A RIA Novosti correspondent estimates at least 50,000 people have arrived at the rally point, while the Ministry of the Interior estimates about 14,000. The demonstrators are reportedly peaceful and in good spirits.
However, another RIA Novosti correspondent also noted a heavy police presence on the streets surrounding the rally site, including about ten full police trucks with license plates from the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia.
Among the political movements in attendance are Solidarity, the People’s Republican Party, Left Front, led by radical firebrand Sergei Udaltsov, as well as former opposition lawmaker Gennady Gudkov, who was dismissed from the State Duma on Friday over his alleged business activities.
Gudkov told journalists at the scene that his ouster was ordered from the Kremlin.
Anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, chess champion-cum-politician Garry Kasparov and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, among others, are also in attendance.