similar protests took place in other cities.
Putin, who has dominated Russian politics for
17 years, has not said whether he will run in presidential elections in March
2018. But the 64-year-old politician, who enjoys high popularity ratings, is
widely expected to do so.
Saturday's protest in the capital -- called
"We're sick of him" -- was organized by the Open Russia movement
founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Once Russia's richest man, he
was freed by Putin in 2013 after spending a decade in jail for fraud, a charge
Khodorkovsky said was politically-motivated.
One of hundreds shepherded into a queue behind
metal barriers by police before handing over their petitions one-by- one, Anna,
a 16-year-old Moscow schoolgirl, said she hoped Putin would get the message and
not run again.
"Nothing positive has happened in our
country on his watch and I have the sense that things are getting worse, and
that the main problem is the fact that those in power are the same," she
told Reuters.
Her preference for president was opposition
politician Alexei Navalny, who spent 15 days in jail last month after helping
organize the biggest anti-government protests since 2012, which ended with over
1,000 arrests.
Saturday's event, held in bright sunshine, was
more modest, though authorities were taking no chances. A Reuters reporter
counted at least 30 police buses and coaches in the area, packed with hundreds
of riot police.
Videos posted by Russian media showed police
in riot gear detaining protesters in St Petersburg, where activists reported
over 100 arrests. There was no official confirmation of the arrests.
STEPPING UP PRESSURE
Police said 250 people had showed up in
Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported, while Maria Baronova, an Open Russia
activist, said at least 500 people had handed over a petition.
Irina Glushkova, 64, standing in the same line
as the schoolgirl, said she and many others simply didn't agree with how Putin governed.
"I'm sick of the situation," she
said. "I'm the same age as Putin and I don't think I'm less intelligent
than him, but my opinion is not taken into account at all."
Authorities have stepped up pressure on Open
Russia in recent days. The General Prosecutor's Office ruled on Wednesday that
the activity of Open Russia's British arm was "undesirable" and
accused it and other organizations of trying to discredit the election.
On Thursday, police searched the Moscow
offices of Open Russia's Russian branch. Activists said they confiscated
100,000 blank appeal forms which the foundation had hoped to hand out to people
encouraging them to call for Putin to quit.
On Friday, REN TV, a Russian TV channel,
broadcast a documentary about Open Russia activists, some of whom it accused of
having criminal records, of being drug addicts, and of cultivating close links
with the U.S. government.
Activists dismissed the program as a cheap
stunt designed to discredit them, with at least one noting that REN TV had
somehow obtained video footage stored in his mobile phone.
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