Police have detained about 100 opposition activists in an unauthorized rally at the Ostankino TV center in Moscow on Sunday, including Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov and Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
Earlier reports put the number of detained at about 20. Udaltsov and Nemtsov were released later same day.
The action, which gathered several dozen people, was staged in protest against the airing of “Protests Anatomy” documentary by state-controlled television channel NTV. The film tells the story of the demonstrators who have been taking to the streets of central Moscow to demand a rerun of last December’s parliamentary elections.
Opposition leaders and activists condemned the video as “insolent lies and provocation.”
Demonstrators chanted “Russia without Putin”, holding placards and white ribbons, which have become the symbol of the protest.
Udaltsov was arrested in central Moscow last Thursday over his attempt to organize an unsanctioned demonstration following a post-election opposition rally on the Novy Arbat street. He was initially sentenced to 10 days in jail; however, on Friday, a Moscow court overturned the ruling, replacing it with a $30 fine.