Two members of the female punk band Pussy Riot who face up to seven years in prison on charges of hooliganism for an impromptu performance at a Moscow cathedral asked the president on Friday to examine the legitimacy of their case. Two members of the female punk band Pussy Riot who face up...

... "staged" by the police? I ran into the actor/director on Tuesday afternoon on Chistoprudny Boulevard. He was walking around scoping the area as a low-key, impromptu political gathering went on around us. Young people who had been chased by riot police out of Staraya Ploshchad near Kitai-Gorod hours before had moved here to sit beneath a statue to Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayev and sing songs by Viktor Tsoi and Yury Shevchuk. I hailed Grudovich and asked what was up. I knew his Partisan Theater...

... show "staged" by the police? I ran into the actor-director on Tuesday afternoon on Chistoprudny Bulvar. He was walking around scoping the area as a low-key, impromptu political gathering went on around us. Young people who had been chased by riot police from Staraya Ploshchad near Kitai-Gorod hours before had moved here to sit beneath a statue of Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayev and sing songs by Viktor Tsoi and Yury Shevchuk. I hailed Grudovich and asked what was up. I knew his Partisan Theater...

Six people have been convicted for taking part in deadly labor riots in Kazakhstan that were seen as a major challenge to the authority of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Six people have been convicted for taking part in deadly labor riots in Kazakhstan that were seen...

... reports on both events throughout the day and into the evening. Refresh the page to see the latest updates. 8:49 p.m., Demonstrators Largely Dispersed: Demonstrators from the opposition event at Bolotnaya Ploshchad have been herded away from the square by riot police and remain on surrounding streets only in groups of dozens of people, Moscow Times correspondent Roland Oliphant reported from the scene. This will wrap up the blog for now. Check our website later this evening for an article covering all...

At a long-planned opposition event Sunday that drew unexpectedly large crowds, demonstrators who gathered to protest Vladimir Putin's imminent inauguration as president clashed with riot police in the first major opposition protest to involve violence . Photo Gallery: Protesters and Police Clash at 'March of Millions' Archived Live Blog: 'March of Millions' and People's Front Rally At a long-planned opposition event Sunday that...

... rally on Bolotnaya Ploshchad. The protesters then declared a round-the-clock vigil in central Moscow and have pursued smaller, peripatetic demonstrations that move from square to square to avoid protester detentions by the seemingly ever-present OMON riot police. The protests pose a challenge to the authorities, who had hoped that scheduling a four-day public holiday around Putin's inauguration would encourage the middle class, who make up the bulk of the demonstrators, to go to their dachas or on...

Police have arrested an 18-year-old opposition protester on suspicion of having called for mass riots and having attacked police at a May 6 rally. Police have arrested an 18-year-old opposition protester on suspicion of having called for mass riots and having attacked police at the May 6 "March of Millions" that ended in a violent confrontation...

... sheeting attached to the trees above the heads of the protesters to cover them from the rain. Several activists were handing out
 free sandwiches and hot tea. Many people brought plastic camping mats to sleep on. At about 7:30 p.m. teams of OMON riot police armed with batons dashed toward protesters, many of whom did not have time to escape arrest. Dozens were detained, largely without the use of force. The protesters fled to the Kitai-Gorod metro station
on foot, where riot police and...

... the State Duma, whose disputed election in December ignited the opposition protests. This suggests that the opposition — at least for now — is a force that the authorities will have to reckon with. "The people don't fear detentions or riot police truncheons anymore," said Duma Deputy Dmitry Gudkov, of A Just Russia, who was detained at an opposition protest Tuesday. "The police are only fanning the flames," he said, writing on his blog. "Very soon the people who...

Six people were convicted last week for instigating riots on Dec. 16 in the Kazakh city of Zhanaozen. Kazakh leaders and prosecutors claimed all along that the massacre was organized by "a group of former oil workers aided by a number of young people...

A week after bloody clashes between radical youths and riot police tarnished the first major protest rally in months, the moderate middle-class opposition appeared to re-assert itself Sunday with an unexpectedly large march of thousands led by some of Russia's most...

... could rally peacefully for another 100 years and nothing would change," said Anastasia Gorodetskaya, 24, a lawyer's assistant. Monday's flash mobs, which were leaderless and unsanctioned, again demonstrated protesters' lack of fear of the OMON riot police and increasing willingness to risk confrontation and detentions. Police frequently forayed into the crowds to make detentions, the pretext for which was seldom clear, prompting protesters to complain that police were making arbitrary arrests...

... Speculation that police were preparing to clear the camp, whose population ranges from a few dozen to a few hundred protesters, has raged in recent days, fueled by reports of complaints from local residents. Further rattling protesters’ nerves, OMON riot police and regular officers briefly visited the camp on Monday and asked protesters to move off the grass. City Hall has estimated that 1 million rubles ($33,000) in damages have been inflicted to the grass around the statue of Kazakh poet-philosopher...

Up until Sunday, it looked like the clash between opposition forces and the government had calmed down, even though none of the protesters' demands has been met. But the excessive force that OMON riot police used against demonstrators starting on Sunday and continuing throughout this week now threatens to radicalize the confrontation between civil society and the state. Up until Sunday, it looked like the clash between...

Riot police broke up a sanctioned protest rally on May 6. After that, police detained Moscow pedestrians carrying white ribbons — the symbol of the protest movement. They also stopped "suspicious individuals" carrying...

... day in a row not to give up. Opposition leaders Alexei Navalny and Sergei Udaltsov, who were sentenced Wednesday to 15 days in prison for disobeying the police, might be locked up for five years if investigators decide to charge them with inciting a riot and using violence against the police. Investigators considering the criminal charges against the two questioned Navalny as a witness, not as a suspect, late Thursday, his lawyer told RIA-Novosti. Udaltsov, meanwhile, signed a pledge not to disclose...

... protest rally could take place in Moscow on Russia Day, a national holiday on June 12. The May 6 protests could have ended in serious violence. The more radical protesters happened to be at the front of the crowd and seemed to be eager to clash with riot police. The authorities, for their part, were well prepared for a confrontation. Riot police carried tear gas and gas masks, and behind police cordons several water-cannon trucks stood ready. The situation could easily have degenerated into a massive...

... effect on the political landscape during Putin's term in office. It was clear from the start that the authorities would permit demonstrators to play their little game only as long as the number of those who turned out for rallies was small enough for the riot police to be able to disperse — and with force, if necessary. Once the numbers get too large — in the range of 300,000 to 500,000 — it becomes much more difficult to disperse the crowds. If they remain at 100,000 or fewer, it is...

Riot police helped a mother regain custody of her 8-year-old daughter on Thursday in a tragic case that has riveted Lithuania for three years and led to three deaths. VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Riot police helped...