On weekend, UK media condemned the actions of Russian police during an uncoordinated rally in central Moscow in support of unregistered candidates to the Moscow parliament.
"Articles devoted to the detention of illegally protesting citizens in the UK media are biased and lacking objectivity. Active participation of the British media representatives in rallies, as well as their clear violation of the principles of impartiality in covering this topic, makes us think about their involvement and immediate interest in influencing the internal political situation in our country", the embassy said.
According to Russian diplomats, the unauthorized protests in Moscow raise questions, since many of the rally's participants had no idea who the so-called opposition candidates actually were, and some of the protesters were wanted on charges of extremism propaganda.
About 1,500 people took part in an unauthorized protest in central Moscow on Saturday. About 600 people were detained for various offenses. Moscow police urged citizens to refrain from participating in an uncoordinated action and warned of the risk of provocation.
In late July, a number of pro-opposition candidates organized mass protests and called for acts of civil disobedience, demanding that independent candidates for the city parliament be registered. During an authorized rally on 27 July, over 1,000 people were detained.
The election to the Moscow City Council is scheduled for September 8. Election officials have registered 233 contenders, including 171 candidates endorsed by political parties and 62 independents.
Fifty-seven others were not allowed to run, with the city's election commission citing the large proportion of "bad" signatures — each prospective candidate must collect a certain number of signatures in order to be registered — as their reason for refusing them. Some of rejected applicants have already protested the decision and accused the commission's signatures checkers of gross violations.
