Summary of Manezh Square Navalny Protest: 1.5K Protesters and 250 Arrests

MOSCOW, December 31 (Sputnik) - Following a Russian court's sentencing of the Navalny brothers on embezzlement charges, an estimated 1,500-2,000 supporters of blogger and activist Alexei Navalny gathered on Manezh Square on Tuesday in the center of Moscow, just off Red Square and across the street from the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's legislature.

The rally began to form at about 7 pm in the evening, with the bulk of the protesters beginning to appear by about 8 pm; the demonstrators were dispersed by the police by about 9 pm. Police estimates of the number of people present at the unsanctioned rally put their numbers at about 1,500 persons, with other Russian media sources saying that a maximum of 2,000 had gathered at the square. Navalny's former Mayoral Campaign organizer Leonid Volkov estimated "several thousand," while some activists were more imaginative, claiming that "at least 10-15k" were in attendance.

AT LEAST 10-15K PEOPLE HERE. CANNOT SEE END OF THE CROWD #moscow #navalny pic.twitter.com/oPUSZ6pBs1

— Ilya Mouzykantskii (@ilyamuz) 30 декабря 2014

Navalny himself, who violated his house arrest to try to attend the event, was arrested across the street from the Square by police and taken home. His press secretary told Russian media that five police officers had been stationed outside his apartment to prevent him from attempting to return. From home, the activist continued to attempt to persuade people to come out onto the square, saying that "this regime has no right to exist," and that "it must be destroyed."

Едет. pic.twitter.com/10q5qtEkFd

— Рубанов Роман (@rrubanov) 30 декабря 2014

"En route."

Смотрите кого встретил pic.twitter.com/cRbdHjQlOZ

— Георгий Албуров (@alburov) 30 декабря 2014

"Look who I've run into."

Police had begun gathering ahead of the protests, many taking up positions across the street from Manezh at the Duma building to prevent it from being vandalized, as had occurred last summer as protesters gathered to protest Alexei Navalny's earlier conviction on a separate embezzlement charge.

Once the rally began, the protesters on the Square began to call for a fair trial, shouted "Shame!" and "Freedom!" and yelled some defamatory remarks about Vladimir Putin. They also unveiled a new slogan: "I am Navalny's Brother," and shouted some slogans in support of Ukrainian authorities, including "Crimea is not ours."

At the same time, and more spontaneously, anti-Navalny protesters began gathering around the rally, some shouting that "Maidan will not pass," which resulted in a couple of fist-fights. RBK explained that a group of Afghan war veterans and a separate group of what appeared to be Cossacks may have been among the anti-Navalny protesters. Across the street from the square, at the Ritz Carlton hotel, a hastily-created laser image was projected over its fifth floor, reading "No to Maidan!"

Overall the protest finished generally peacefully. An estimated 250 of the loudest and most belligerent activists were arrested by police; 70 spent the night in jail.

At about 8:30 pm, the police divided the protesters into several 'quadrants', and gradually began pushing them, one group at a time, toward the entrance to the metro, not far from the protest site.

Komsomolskaya Pravda's reporter on the scene playfully noted that the operation to disperse the crowd was carried out "extremely politely," in a nod to the way the Russian "green men" that were present in Crimea during the referendum were described in the Russian media. The police kept their batons holstered and most protesters similarly avoided provocations. Under the square, the 'Ohotniy Ryad' shopping center continued to operate as normal, with people getting their last minute gifts ahead of the New Year holiday.