Russians held Putin Must Quit Protest Ahead of 2018 General Elections
Russian demonstrators on Saturday urged President Vladimir Putin not to run for a fourth term beginning from 2018.
The demonstrators rallied in cities across Russia under the slogan “I’m fed up,” but dozens were arrested in St. Petersburg and elsewhere.
The centrepiece rally in Moscow went peacefully, despite being unsanctioned by authorities.
Several hundred people rallied in a park then moved to the nearby presidential administration building to present letters telling Putin to stand down from running in 2018.
In St. Petersburg, Associated Press journalists saw dozens arrested.
The OVD-Info group that monitors political repression relayed reports of more arrests in several cities, including 20 in Tula and 14 in Kemerovo.
Putin has not announced whether he plans to run for president again next year.
He has dominated Russian politics since becoming president on New Year’s Eve 1999 when Boris Yeltsin resigned.
Even when he stepped away from the Kremlin to become prime minister in 2008-2012 because of term limits, he remained effectively Russia’s leader.
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