Russian News From Russia

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he did not expect such a massive turnout at a rally in his support in Moscow and proposed to pay the fine the organizers face for exceeding the attendance limit.

The rally in Moscow’s Poklonnaya Gora memorial park on Saturday was booked for 15,000 people but city police said about 140,000 attended, disrupting traffic in the area. However, a RIA Novosti eyewitness estimates the attendance was much lower than the official number. The event was organized to balance an anti-Putin protest in the city center, which police said attracted 36,000 participants, though organizers insisted 120,000 showed up.

“I honestly did not expect such a turnout,” Putin said during a trip to the Urals, referring to the pro-government rally. He added that he believed the majority participants came to the event voluntarily, dismissing media reports that most of them were state employees ordered or paid to attend.

The City Hall said it would fine the organizers for exceeding the agreed turnout. Putin said he is ready to “partially” chip in on the fine, which would range from 1,000 to 2,000 rubles ($33 to $66).

Putin also said he currently has no plans to attend similar rallies but does not rule it out in the future.

The United Nations Security Council has just voted on a draft resolution concerning the ongoing violence in Syria.

Of the voting members, Russia and China were the only ones to vote against the draft, but as permanent members of the UNSC they both hold veto power, and the resolution has not been passed as a result.

The news follows days of heated political debates in the UNSC, with many members supporting a Western-backed draft calling for foreign nations to put an end to what some called the “Syrian killing machine.”

Russia and China were the only permanent Security Council members opposing the draft, reminding others that it was not their place to intervene in another country’s domestic affairs.

“The co-sponsors of the resolution have not, in the wording of the draft,  taken into account that the Syrian opposition must distance itself from extremist groups committing acts of violence or called on states with the ablility to use their influence to prevent such acts,” Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.

“The Russian delegation was forced to vote against this draft resolution. We seriously regret this outcome of our joint work,” he added.

Vitaly Churkin said earlier that any proposals including an arms embargo or the demand for Assad’s resignation would be vetoed. Though the draft in question did not contain either point, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the resolution still had major problems.

Lavrov told an audience at the Munich Security Conference that there are too few demands being placed on Syria’s armed opposition; also, the resolution could cause affect the outcome of political dialogue between the conflicting sides.

Last year’s runners up, Russia, have experienced few problems in grabbing a 2-0 lead on the opening day of the Fed Cup quarterfinals against Team Spain.

­Maria Sharapova was first on court for the hosts in Moscow on Saturday, with the World No.3 making an easy job of dispatching Silvia Soler-Espinosa.

She gave just three games away to her Spanish rival, cruising to a confident straight set victory.

The score stood at 6-2, 6-1 as Sharapova collected her third win in four Fed Cup appearances for her country.

“It is difficult to compete against Sharapova, especially in Russia,” Soler-Espinosa told Sport-Express newspaper. “She is full of confidence after the Australian Open final.”

“I played against a great tennis player,” she added.

Sharapova also found something good to say about Fed Cup debutant, Soler-Espinosa.

“Despite the final score, the match was pretty hard,” she confessed. “My opponent had some good opportunities. In some games, she led 40-15 or even 40-0, but I always managed to prevail, which boosted my confidence.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova took on Carla Suarez Navarro in the second encounter of the day and prevailed after the minimum two sets to win 6-3, 6-1.

Team Russia last lifted the Federation Cup back in 2008. They came close to repeating their success in 2011, but were beaten by the Czech Republic in the Moscow finals.

Up to 30,000 people have marched “for fair elections” in Russia’s western city of St. Petersburg. They joined thousands of other pro- and anti-government protesters who marched for free and democratic presidential elections all across the country.

­The mass protests in St. Petersburg started in the afternoon with people gathering in the city center. Activists carried flags and banners bearing such slogans as “For fair elections,” and “I will not give up.” Some people were chanting “Freedom.”

According to witnesses there were so many people that police were asked to broaden their cordons.

The peaceful march has just ended with a rally. People gathered around a stage where journalists, politicians and activists made speeches. Police estimated the numbers at 15,000 while the organizers put the figure at 30,000.

The protest passed off peacefully with no reports of violence.

Organizers set up tables offering hot tea so that people could warm themselves.

Anti- and pro-government rallies also took place in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and the Siberian capital, Novosibirsk, where several thousand turned up.

­Officials estimated that up to 2,000 people gathered at the main post office in Ekaterinburg’s downtown. Organizers, on the other hand, reported about 7,000.

The rally was described as “bright and quick.”  Some activists delivered their speeches as costumed performances.

Not far from the anti-government rally, others were holding a pro-government demonstration. It was not clear who its organizers were.

­In the center of Novosibirsk, officials estimated the crowd at less than 1,000. The march and sanctioned protest for fair elections both passed off peacefully. However there are reports that two activists were facing civil charges for being among a group which gathered outside government building. Police said it was illegal to gather there without permission from the city authorities.

­Anti- and pro-government protests and marches were planned in about 30 cities all across Russia with the largest turnouts in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

­Watch RT’s exlusive photo report from Bolotnaya Square in Moscow.

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In Moscow the event, which started with a march down Yakimanka Street and continued with a rally at Bolotnaya Square, attracted at least 34,000 people, according to estimates. Other sources put the figures higher, at up to 50,000.

­Watch RT’s exlusive photo report from Bolotnaya Square in Moscow.

­“What we are seeing is the return of interesting politics to Russia,” journalist Ivan Zasoursky told RT.  Zasoursky sees the protests across the country as a “happy sign,” as “a lot of educated, opinionated people are coming back to politics, and I think Russian politics will be much smarter and much more interesting” as a result.

“Politics has come alive” in Russia, says Martin McCauley, Russia expert at the University of London.

Speaking of possible future political protests in Russia, McCauley predicts an even larger demonstration in March. “A very large rally is promised for March 11, a week after the presidential election. Presumably that will be the larger than this one,” he told RT.  But he added that “nobody wants a revolution.”

“What the vast majority wants is a better standard of living, and to participate in how the country develops,” McCauley added.

For Fair Elections rally participants in Novosibirsk (RIA Novosti / Elnar Salahiev)
For Fair Elections rally participants in Novosibirsk (RIA Novosti / Elnar Salahiev)
RIA Novosti / Vadim Zhernov

The president of Russia’s Football Union, Sergey Fursenko, has promised to make the country a footballing superpower fit to lift both Euro 2012 and 2018 World Cup.

­“Our main goal is winning the 2018 World Cup, but we approach this task step by step,” Fursenko stressed. “The immediate goal is victory at Euro 2012. Over the years we have to become a European footballing superpower.”

The official praised his organization’s achievements at the Russian Football Union’s annual conference on Saturday.

“In 2011, there was significant progress in all directions of the RFU’s work,” he said. “The national team have won the qualifiers for the European Championships in 2012. The country’s U21s also enjoy a solid lead in their qualifying campaign for Euro 2013. We’ve have become the beach soccer world champions, beating none other than Brazil in the final.”

Fursenko also offered some theories as to why Russia’s top players had failed to establish themselves in the English Premier League.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has recently parted ways with Everton and joined Spartak Moscow, while Roman Pavlyuchenko has swapped Tottenham for Lokomotiv.

“Football in England is more athletic and fast, while we have a more intelligent and, well… more spiritual game,” the RFU head explained. “I assure you, Bilyaletdinov and Pavlyuchenko will blossom in Russia and it’ll become a huge benefit for the national team.”

Russia were drawn in Group A at Euro 2012, with co-hosts Poland, the Czech Republic and Greece being their rivals.

In 2018, the country will also host the FIFA World Cup for the first time in its history.

“Loves and marriage,” “Girls on a Flying Bomb,” “The Milk of Sorrow” - British artist Rose Wylie captures the world around her with childish naivety and genuine innocence. Now her first exhibition in Russia has opened at Moscow’s Regina Gallery.

­Wylie’s seemingly simple creations are often inspired by her childhood memories. The 77-year-old artist established her signature style, broadly labeled “primitive art,” early in her career, and has not swerved from it since.

To the untrained eye, the artist’s work can look crude. But those who say, “My kid could do better!” couldn’t be more wrong – there is far more to Wylie’s craft than meets the eye.

Her large-scale convey a variety of subject matters, from light to serious, from politics to cinema. Whatever she depicts, her passion for freedom of expression is contagious.

“Painting feels exciting… You don’t have to worry about your house falling down, or your family — you forget everything. I like the decisions that never stop coming when you paint – everything is a decision. How much of everything, how much contrast, how tight, how loose, how stupid, how elegant, how desperately awkward. I hate elegance… I like ducks,” Wylie was quoted as saying.

She has been exhibiting in the UK and overseas for over three decades with notable shows in London, New York and Berlin. Her largest solo show to date will open this spring at the new Jerwood Gallery in Hastings.

Her highly-anticipated Moscow exhibition features a selection of works spanning the last 13 years and runs through to March 10.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and China vetoed Saturday a U.N. resolution that backed an Arab plan calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit, stalling global efforts to end his bloody crackdown on unrest after hundreds were reported killed in the city of Homs.

The high-level diplomatic setback came after world leaders and Syrian opposition activists accused Assad’s forces of a massacre in a sustained shelling of Homs, the bloodiest episode in 11 months of upheaval in the pivotal Arab country.

Russia and China joined in a double veto to bar a Western- and Arab-driven resolution at the U.N. Security Council endorsing the Arab League plan for Assad to hand power to a deputy to make way for a transition toward democracy.

The other 13 council members voted for the resolution that would have said the council “fully supports” the League plan aimed at stopping Syria’s bloodshed, whose sectarian overtones threaten stability in the wider Middle East region.

Russia complained that the draft resolution was an improper and biased attempt at “regime change” in Syria, which is Moscow’s sole remaining sphere of influence in the Middle East and an important destination for Russian arms exports.

With an eye to events in Homs, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice dispensed with the usual diplomatic courtesies and declared she was “disgusted” by the Russian-Chinese veto, adding that “any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands.”

Shortly before the Security Council voted, U.S. President Barack Obama denounced the “unspeakable assault” on Homs, demanded that Assad leave power immediately and called for U.N. action against Assad’s “relentless brutality.”

“Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children, in Homs through shelling and other indiscriminate violence, and Syrian forces continue to prevent hundreds of injured civilians from seeking medical help,” Obama said in a statement. “Any government that brutalizes and massacres its people does not deserve to govern.”

He and other Western and Arab leaders exerted unprecedented pressure on Assad’s veto-wielding ally Russia to allow the Security Council to pass a resolution backing an Arab League call for Assad to relinquish his autocratic powers.

SECOND VETO IN FOUR MONTHS

But Russia, and China following Moscow’s lead, weighed in to torpedo U.N. action on Syria for the second time in four months. In October, they vetoed a European-drafted resolution condemning Syria and threatening it with possible sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday it had not been possible to work constructively with Russia ahead of the vote, even though military intervention in Syria - fiercely opposed by Moscow - had been absolutely ruled out.

“I thought that there might be some ways to bridge, even at this last moment, a few of the concerns that the Russians had. I offered to work in a constructive manner to do so. That has not been possible,” she told reporters at a Munich security conference.

Clinton warned that the risk of more bloodshed and civil war in Syria had risen after the collapse of the U.N. resolution.

“If we do not begin the process, I know what will happen: more bloodshed, increasing resistance by those whose families are being killed and whose homes are being bombed, and a greater likelihood that Syria will descend into civil war.”

The uprising pits Syria’s majority Sunni Muslims against Assad’s minority Alawites, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, who have dominated the country’s power structure for decades.

After what U.S. officials called “vigorous” talks between Clinton and Sergei Lavrov, Moscow announced that its foreign minister and its foreign intelligence chief would fly to Syria Tuesday to meet Assad. The purpose of their trip was not given.

Residents of Homs’ battered Baba Amro district, speaking by telephone, denounced the Russian-Chinese veto, some chanting “Death, rather than disgrace.”

One resident who identified himself as Sufyan said: “Now we will show Assad. We’re coming, Damascus. Starting today we will show Assad what an armed gang is.” Assad has called his opponents “armed gangs” and “terrorists” steered from abroad.

Mohammed Loulichki, the U.N. ambassador of Morocco, the sole Arab member of the 15-nation council, voiced his “great regret and disappointment” at the Russian-Chinese veto. French Ambassador Gerard Araud said: “It is a sad day for this council, a sad day for all Syrians, and a sad day for democracy.”

U.S. and European officials had earlier rejected a series of Russian amendments to the draft resolution.

WEST REJECTS EQUAL BLAME

The changes, seen by Reuters, would have introduced language assigning blame to Syria’s opposition, as well as the government, for violence in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died. Western nations reject the idea of equal blame, saying Assad’s government is mainly responsible.

Moscow objected that the resolution contained steps against Assad, but not against his armed opponents, Lavrov said. “Unless you do it both ways, you are taking sides in a civil war.”

Russia had also insisted on dropping a demand that the Syrian government withdraw its security forces from cities, but U.S. and European delegations rejected that.

Moscow said before the vote that the resolution was not “hopeless,” but its wording needed to be altered to avoid “taking sides in a civil war.” Lavrov said it was still possible to reach consensus.

France called the Homs assault a “massacre” and a “crime against humanity.” Turkey said hundreds had been killed and the United Nations must act. Tunisia expelled the Syrian ambassador, and the flag above its embassy was brought down.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 237 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad’s crackdown on protests and one of the deadliest episodes in the “Arab Spring” of revolts that have swept the region.

Residents said Syrian forces began shelling the Khalidiya neighborhood at around 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses were completely destroyed with families inside.

“We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads,” said Waleed, a resident of Khalidiya.

“The morning has come and we have discovered more bodies, bodies are on the streets,” he said. “Some are still under the rubble. Our movement is better but there is little we can do without ambulances and other things.”

An activist in the neighborhood contacted by Reuters said residents were using primitive tools to rescue people. They feared many were buried under rubble.

“We are not getting any help, there are no ambulances or anything. We are removing the people with our own hands,” he said, adding there were only two field hospitals treating the wounded. Each one had a capacity to deal with 30 people, but he estimated the total number of wounded at 500.

“We have dug out at least 100 bodies so far, they are placed in the two mosques.”

A third Khalidiya resident, speaking by telephone with wailing and cries of “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) audible in the background, said at least 40 corpses had been retrieved from streets and damaged buildings.

CONDEMNATION

As news of the violence spread, angry crowds of Syrians stormed their country’s embassies in Cairo, London, Berlin and Kuwait and protested in other cities.

Syria denied shelling Homs and said Internet video of corpses was staged. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access.

The official Syrian account was disregarded across the globe, where international condemnation was thunderous.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said: “The Syrian authorities have jumped a new hurdle in savagery: the massacre in Homs is a crime against humanity and those responsible will have to answer for it.”

In remarks aimed at Moscow, he said any country that blocked U.N. action would bear a “heavy responsibility in history.”

Tunisia announced it was expelling the Syrian ambassador and revoking recognition of Assad’s government. The head of a committee of parliamentarians from Arab states said Arab countries should expel Syrian ambassadors and cut ties.

It was not immediately clear what had prompted Syrian forces to launch the Homs bombardment, just as diplomats at the Security Council were discussing the draft resolution on Syria.

Russia has balked at any Security Council language that would open to door to “regime change” in Syria, where Moscow has a naval base and makes billions of dollars of arms sales.

BOMBARDMENT

Video footage on the Internet described as being from Homs showed at least eight bodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blown off. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the footage was filmed.

Syria’s state news agency SANA denied Homs was shelled, accusing rebels of killing people and presenting them as casualties for propaganda purposes before the U.N. vote.

“The corpses displayed by some channels of incitement are martyrs, citizens kidnapped, killed and photographed by armed terrorist groups as if they are victims of the supposed shelling,” it quoted a “media source” as saying.

The Syrian government says it is facing a foreign-backed insurgency and that most of the dead have been its troops. SANA reported funerals of 22 members of the security forces.

Some Syrian activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Logan, Mariam Karouny and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations, Arshad Mohammed and Stephen Brown in Munich, Ahmed el-Shimy in Cairo, Katharine Jackson in Washington and Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Mark Heinrich and Peter Graff; Editing by Louise Ireland)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council failed again Saturday to take decisive action to stop the escalating violence in Syria as Russia and China vetoed a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for President Bashar Assad to step down.

The other 13 members of the council, including the United States, Britain and France, voted in an unusual weekend session in favor of the resolution aimed at stopping the ongoing violence in Syria.

It was the second time in four months that Russia and China used their veto power to block a Security Council resolution condemning the violence in Syria.

The rare double-veto was issued following days of negotiations aimed at overcoming Russian opposition to the draft resolution. Several European envoys said before the session that they felt compelled to call for the vote despite Russia’s attempts to seek a delay because they were concerned about the escalating violence by Assad’s regime.

The urgency was heightened by an assault by Syrian forces firing mortars and artillery on the city of Homs. Activists said more than 200 people were killed in what they called one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising against Assad. The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have been killed over almost 11 months in a government crackdown on civilian protests.

After the vote, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, in unusually strong language, said the United States was”disgusted” by the outcome of the vote.

“For months this council has been held hostage by a couple of members,” Rice said. “These members stand behind empty arguments and individual interests while delaying and seeking to strip bare any text that would pressure Assad to change his actions.

“This intransigence is even more shameful when you consider that at least one of these members continues to deliver weapons to Assad,” she added, referring to Russia, a major arms supplier for Syria.

Both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had urged passage of the resolution earlier Saturday.

Syria has been a key Russian ally since Soviet times and Moscow has opposed any U.N. call that could be interpreted as advocating military intervention or regime change.

Moroccan Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki, a key sponsor of the resolution, told reporters afterward that his country was “frustrated and sad” over the outcome. He said that the draft remains on the table and hopes that consensus can still be reached to take another vote later.

The latest U.N. resolution repeated all the conditions that Arab League foreign ministers set in a Jan. 22 decision on Syria, calling for a Syrian-led political transition in which Assad would delegate his powers to a deputy.

Russia had expressed concerns about the draft text, saying it feared the resolution would lead to the kind of military intervention and regime change seen in Libya after last year’s council action intended to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

After Saturday’s vote, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin accused fellow council members of being inflexible.

“We greatly regret this result of our joint work” on the resolution, he said.

Churkin said his country’s proposed amendments to the resolution had been ignored, and the version voted on Saturday “did not adequately reflect the real state of affairs in Syria.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had warned earlier that Moscow would use its veto power if the amendments were not included in the draft text.

Russia’s proposed changes were aimed at satisfying Moscow’s concerns that the resolution made too few demands of anti-government armed groups, and that the text could prejudge the outcome of a national dialogue among political forces in Syria.

Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that he and Russia’s foreign intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov, will meet with Assad in Damascus on Tuesday.

Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong said his country joined Russia in voting against the resolution because the proposed amendments were not taken into account.

U.S. Ambassador Rice had described those amendments as “unacceptable” as she headed into Saturday’s session.

Before the vote, Obama had urged the council to take a stand against Assad’s regime and back the resolution.

“The international community must work to protect the Syrian people from this abhorrent brutality,” Obama said in a blistering statement issued by the White House. Obama said Assad had displayed “disdain for human life and dignity” following the weekend attacks in Homs.

“The Syrian regime’s policy of maintaining power by terrorizing its people only indicates its inherent weakness and inevitable collapse,” Obama said. “Assad has no right to lead Syria, and has lost all legitimacy with his people and the international community.”

To the Syrian people, Obama pledged U.S. support and vowed to work with them to build a better future in their country.

Clinton met Saturday with Lavrov on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich, Germany, to urge immediate U.N. action on Syria, but was unable to dissuade Russia from wielding its veto power as a permanent council member.

Other council members joined the U.S. in condemning the veto.

“It is a sad day for this council, a sad day for Syrians and a sad day for all friends of democracy,” French Ambassador Gerard Araud said after the vote.

Araud said Russia and China had “made themselves complicit in a policy of repression carried out by the Assad regime.”

British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said his country was “appalled” by the double veto and accused Russia and China of “turning their backs” on Arab nations.

Portuguese Ambassador Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral bemoaned members’ inability to reach consensus, and asked: “How many more dead and maimed will it take for this council to react?”

“Today the Security Council has failed to live up to its responsibility,” German Ambassador Peter Wittig said. “The people in Syria have been let down again.”

Human rights advocates feared that the resolution’s failure might encourage the Assad government to intensify its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.

“The risk is high that the Assad regime will see this double veto as a green light for even more violence,” said Philippe Bolopion, who monitors the United Nations for Human Rights Watch. “Vetoes by Russia and China are not only a slap in the face of the Arab League, they are also a betrayal of the Syrian people.”

____

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Geir Molson in Munich and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has thrown his support behind a pro-government rally to be held in Moscow on Saturday. The demo is in opposition to the protest march “For Fair Elections,” which has been labelled a Ukrainian-style “Orange” revolt.

“People are heading to Poklonnaya Hill to state their sincere anti-Orange position. I am grateful to them and I share their views,” Putin told Interfax news agency on Friday.

“It will be cold… so I call on everyone who shows up to take care of themselves, to be cautious and think about their health and at the very least not to take children with them,” the prime minister added.

He said participants in the rally could be vulnerable to criticism that their loyalty is being bought by the government.

“Organizing an event in support of the authorities is somewhat different from other similar actions. The people participating feel a threat to their interest, the threat of losing something. But that’s exactly why they come out to voice their position,” he said.

Putin also dismissed allegations that people working in the public sector are being pressured by their superiors to attend the rally. He admitted the scenario was possible, but branded it deplorable. “There is certainly nothing good about it. But I would not overestimate how big a role this factor could play,” he said.

The rally at Poklonnaya Hill aims to showcase the discontent of a section of the public with what the organizers call “an Orange movement,” in a reference to the Ukrainian Orange revolution of 2004-2005 which ended in the ouster of the government of the day. Supporters say Ukraine’s Orange Revolution was an example of people taking power into their own hands.  Its critics, however, say it was a foreign-sponsored coup.

Organizers of the Poklonnaya rally fall into the latter category, and believe a similar process is taking place in Russia. They say the organizers of the Bolotnaya Square rally want to use public discontent over December’s elections to overthrow the government. The draft resolution of the pro-government rally says the “Fair Elections” protest “undermines the very idea of democracy” and “wants to plunge the country into chaos, foreign intervention and violation of our sovereignty.”

14:46 MSK: Next opposition rally to be held on February 26th, according to organizers.

14:43 MSK: Rally on Bolotnaya over, people are slowly leaving the square. Organizers say at least 120 thousand people attended, while official police estimates put the numbers at 38 thousands tops.

14:15 MSK: Watch live feeds from both Bolotnaya Square and Poklonnaya Hill on RT

14:04 MSK: According to police data, around 100 thousand people are attending the pro-Putin rally on Poklonnaya Hill.

13:55 MSK: Rally on Bolotnaya begins with people still flocking to the square.

13:37 MSK: As more people are arriving at Bolotnaya Square, which is situated on an island at Moscow River, police have deployed hovercraft. They are patrolling on the frozen river.

13:20 MSK:Observers by metal detectors on Yakimanka Street say at least 50 thousand people have  passed through on their way to the rally. Police estimates are significantly lower at 23 thousand participants.

13:08 MSK:First group of protesters arrive on Bolotnaya Square, thousands more following.

12:57 MSK: Liberal Democrat rally over. Bolotnaya Square open to protesters.

12:47 MSK:

Presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov has arrived at Yakimanka Street with some of his supporters.

Mikhail Prokhorov (RIA Novosti / Grigory Susoev)12:46 MSK:

The Moscow Metro is having trouble accommodating all the people passing through stations closest to Yakimanka Street and Poklonnaya Hill. It’s like a special Saturday rush hour.

12:45 MSK: Latest turnout estimate by the police: 11,000 marching at Yakimanka, 35,000 at the Poklonnaya rally, 1,000 at Pushkin Square. Organizers of the Yakimanka march claim a higher turnout of 12-15,000.

12:40 MSK: Protesters in Yakimanka are displaying their creativity. There is a “human tank” among them wearing a cardboard turret over his head bearing the slogan, “tanks are not afraid of filth.” A giant crocodile is being carried on sticks by half a dozen protesters.

12:37 MSK: Police halt the flow of people onto Yakimanka Street for five minutes to prevent crowding.

12:31 MSK: The Poklonnaya Hill rally, which is scheduled to start in some 30 minutes, has attracted 15,000 people, according to police estimates.

12:31 MSK: The Liberal Democrat rally in Pushkin Sqare has 500 participants, police report.

12:31 MSK: Media estimate the number of people on the Bolotnaya march at 7,000 so far.

12:20 MSK: Protest march starts. Demonstrators carry banners displaying anti-government slogans and sing a popular 1980s song by Viktor Tsoy demanding change. The song was one of the emblems of the Perestroika era.

12:19 MSK: ­Police have set up 32 walk-through metal detectors at Yakimanka Street, the starting point for the march to Bolotnaya Square.

Metal detectors at Yakimanka Street (tweeted by @varlamov)

12:16 MSK: ­Moscow police are deploying some 9,000 officers on Saturday. They are to maintain public order and ensure that all the events pass off safely.

12:12 MSK: ­One of the key factors affecting the rallies will be the cold snap, or “General Moroz”, as it is jokingly called. The wave of extreme cold, which has seen temperatures dip to  -20 degrees Celsius, could affect the turnout and pose a health risk to those taking part.

12:10 MSK: ­Meanwhile at Poklonnaya Hill, another rally is gathering. The activists at this event are protesting at what they see as a threat to political stability in Russia coming from the Fair Elections movement. They accuse the opposition of exploiting the public’s mood of protest in a bid to overthrow the government and seize power for themselves. A large section of the Russian media has labelled the event “a pro-Putin” rally, although the organizers have tried to distance themselves from the prime minister. Putin himself voiced his support of the rally, whose slogan is, “We have much to lose.”

12:08 MSK: ­Several presidential candidates had originally planned to deliver speeches at the rally, but later changed their minds. Businessman Mikhail Prokhorov said he would attend the event, but only in a personal capacity. Lib Dem leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has organized its own rally, scheduled for the same time. Sergey Mironov of Fair Russia decided not to attend. Community leader Gennady Zyuganov is out of Moscow on Saturday.

12:06 MSK: ­The “Fair Election” movement has organized a march in central Moscow which is expected to end with a 30-minute rally at Bolotnaya Square, which in December was the scene of one of the biggest opposition demonstrations seen in modern Russia. Protesters angry at what they saw as a rigged parliamentary election are coming back to demand, that next month’s presidential poll is free and fair. The rally is being called “For Fair Elections!” Between 20-30,000 people are expected to turn out.

12:03 MSK: In Russia’s Far East and Eastern Siberia, a series of events have already passed off peacefully. But the main focus today is on Moscow’s two rallies, which are expected to draw the largest numbers.

12:01 MSK:There are a range of views being expressed as the election date approaches. Some are throwing their weight behind a particular presidential hopeful. Others are raising their voices against the political situation in the country. Yet others fear Russia is being dragged into chaos, as has happened in some Arab Spring countries.

12:00 MSK: Hello! It’s Saturday, February 4. Exactly a month from now Russia is to elect its new president. Today sees a number of political rallies across the country and even abroad. RT will be broadcasting regular news updates and keeping you informed through Twitter, Facebook and its website.

tweeted by @varlamov