Protests break out across Russia on Putin’s birthday

Anti-Kremlin protesters marked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday on Saturday by gathering across Russia in support of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to multiple reports. 

The protesters were responding to a call by Navalny, who is serving a 20-day jail sentence for violating public meeting laws.

Navalny is hoping to challenge Putin in the country’s presidential election in March, though the country’s election commission has ruled him ineligible because he is serving a five-year suspended prison sentence for embezzlement.

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The opposition leader has said the conviction is politically motivated. 

In Moscow, police allowed protesters to rally near the Kremlin, and in St. Petersburg — Putin’s hometown — authorities dispersed protesters, arresting at least 66 of them, according to Reuters. 

In all, at least 262 people were detained in protests across the country, Reuters reported. 

The protesters in Moscow gathered in Pushkinskaya Square to wave Russian flags and call for the government to allow Navalny to run for office. According to The Associated Press, police had ordered the protesters to disband, but did not physically seek to disperse the gathering.

Despite the protests, Putin remains deeply popular in Russia, where he has spent most of the past two decades in top government posts. He first became president in 1999 and served until 2008, when he became the country’s prime minister. He stayed in that office until 2012, when he retook the presidency. 

Putin has not formally announced whether he will seek reelection in March, though he is widely expected to.