Police officers are trying to disperse a protest rally in downtown Moscow on Tuesday, and several prominent opposition leaders have already been detained.
The Triumfalnaya Square rally was not sanctioned by the authorities, and police have also arrested a number of demonstrators, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the scene.
The crowd, many of whom are chanting "Freedom! Freedom!" are being pushed back by riot police.
A number of prominent opposition leaders, including Other Russia opposition party leader Eduard Limonov, Left Front opposition movement leader Konstantin Kosyakin and co-chairman of the Solidarity opposition movement Boris Nemtsov, have been taken into custody.
A police officer at the scene told RIA Novosti that some 30 protestors were detained.
"There were three buses, in which approximately 30 people were taken away," he said.
Russian opposition groups rally on Triumfalnaya Square on the last day of each month that has 31 days in defense of their right to freedom of assembly, as enshrined in Article 31 of the Russian Constitution.
Permission is seldom granted, however, making most opposition rallies "unsanctioned" by the authorities, who frequently send riot police in to deal with protesters. The authorities regularly suggest alternative venues, but these are usually rejected by the opposition.
MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti)
