Police detain would-be anti-Putin protesters - (AP)
Russian police thwarted unfriendliness plans for a protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in central Moscow on Sunday, detaining a prominent Kremlin critic and more than 30 other oversight opponents in a show of force.
Banned National-Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov was among at least 10 people seen being grabbed by police and dragged into buses as they tried to protest in Triumph Square. Moscow police said about 100 people had tried to protest, and 33 were detained.
City authorities had refused to grant antipathy organizations sanction for the testimony, but Limonov's group and others said the city had no grounds for the denial and vowed to protest anyway.
Before the planned protest, the square was ringed by hundreds of police officers - some in riot gear - and cordoned off by metal barriers for a bike trials struggle that authorities said had been organized in advance.
Limonov and liberal former chess champion Garry Kasparov are among the leaders of a beleaguered resistance to the superintendence of Putin, who was president from 2000-2008, and his chosen successor, President Dmitry Medvedev.
The oversight has kept vocal opponents out of most elections on what Kremlin critics say are preteхts, and police have beaten and detained protesters and bystanders during past contrast demonstrations in Moscow and other major cities.
Opposition Web sites said the aim of Sunday's planned protest was to criticize Putin, whom critics accuse of rolling back Russia's representative progress. He is still widely seen as Russia's most powerful leader. Government opponents say they have seen few signs the Kremlin is loosening its grip under Medvedev, a lawyer who has spoken of the account of justice.
Banned National-Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov was among at least 10 people seen being grabbed by police and dragged into buses as they tried to protest in Triumph Square. Moscow police said about 100 people had tried to protest, and 33 were detained.
City authorities had refused to grant antipathy organizations sanction for the testimony, but Limonov's group and others said the city had no grounds for the denial and vowed to protest anyway.
Before the planned protest, the square was ringed by hundreds of police officers - some in riot gear - and cordoned off by metal barriers for a bike trials struggle that authorities said had been organized in advance.
Limonov and liberal former chess champion Garry Kasparov are among the leaders of a beleaguered resistance to the superintendence of Putin, who was president from 2000-2008, and his chosen successor, President Dmitry Medvedev.
The oversight has kept vocal opponents out of most elections on what Kremlin critics say are preteхts, and police have beaten and detained protesters and bystanders during past contrast demonstrations in Moscow and other major cities.
Opposition Web sites said the aim of Sunday's planned protest was to criticize Putin, whom critics accuse of rolling back Russia's representative progress. He is still widely seen as Russia's most powerful leader. Government opponents say they have seen few signs the Kremlin is loosening its grip under Medvedev, a lawyer who has spoken of the account of justice.
