Opposition protests, March of Dissent, were held in Russia's two largest cities over the weekend. Rights groups, oppositionists and journalists have accused Russian police of abusing their power in dispersing the unsanctioned opposition demonstrations. A total of 250 and 170 people were detained respectively.
"Somebody wants to complicate the situation in the country and push for instability," Gorbachev told a RIA Novosti news conference. "We must learn our lesson, and tell those who arouse fear in society that it is unacceptable."
The first and the last U.S.S.R. president backed President Vladimir Putin, crediting him with the current stability in Russia.
"He has done a lot to turn the country towards modernization, I support Putin," Gorbachev said.
In his comments on the U.S. State Department report on democracy and human rights in Russia, Gorbachev said the criticism should be taken normally, but warned against attaching paramount importance to the report.
"It is always possible to find reasons to criticize," Gorbachev said. "The United States could also be criticized."
"A sovereign country does not work when others fail to allow it to go through the transition from one system to another, assess everything and decide what should be taken from the past and how economic and political processes must be approached," Gorbachev said.
Russian officials immediately reacted to the U.S. report. "The report is obviously politicized in its nature and fails to reflect the real state of affairs," the Foreign Ministry said, adding the U.S. State Department published similar reports before the "color revolutions" in former Soviet republics.
