Thousands of Muscovites join anti-Putin rally in freezing temperatures

Tens of thousands of Muscovites, braving freezing temperatures, took to the streets of the Russian capital on Saturday, protesting against the rule of prime minister Vladimir Putin and the allegedly rigged elections held in December.

Thousands of demonstrators also took to the streets in other Russian cities including St Petersburg, calling for the ouster of Putin. The Moscow rally saw an estimated 120,000 demonstrators rally against the prime minister in minus 20 degrees Celsius temperatures.

The protestors also urged Russians not to vote for Putin in the presidential elections due to be held in March. They carried placards that read 'Russia without Putin,' 'Putin go away,' and 'For free elections,' wore white ribbons and released white balloons.

The protestors, mainly from the middle-class, marched for a kilometre from Kaluzhskaya Square to Bolotnaya Square demanding clean elections. This was the second major rally after the allegedly fraudulent elections, and the first time that such huge numbers have turned up in Moscow, protesting against Putin's 12-year rule.

The demonstrations were organised by a motley group of activists and under the banner of 'Solidarity,' 'Honest Elections,' and 'Citizen Observers.' They had sought permission to stage a demonstration outside the Kremlin, but the authorities rejected the demand and told them to take the kilometre-long route instead.

The presidential elections are due on March 4 and Putin is expected to sail through easily, defeating three other contenders from other parties, besides a billionaire owner of a sports team in the US, Mikhail Prokhorov. The latter also joined the demonstrations on Saturday, but chose not to address the rally.

Putin needs to win 50 per cent of the votes to scrape through in the first-round of elections – his popularity ratings are currently less than 50 per cent. If he fails, he will face a run-off three weeks later.

While the authorities ridiculed the figure of 120,000 that was claimed by the organisers of the rally, Putin's supporters also took out smaller demonstrations in other parts of Moscow. The police claimed nearly 100,000 had joined rallies in support of the prime minister, a figure disputed by the opposition.