Participants of an unauthorized rally on Pushkin Square in Moscow attacked law enforcement officers, an Izvestia correspondent reports on Saturday, January 23 from the scene.
The protesters began throwing snowballs, bottles and eggs at the police. No casualties were reported.
Earlier on the same day, the Ministry of Internal Affairs recalled responsibility for provocations during illegal actions. The police have warned that each fact of provocative actions against law enforcement officers carrying out the protection of public order, or disobeying their legal requirements will be separately investigated and receive an appropriate legal assessment.
At the moment, participants in unauthorized actions are being detained in the capital and other large cities of Russia. Several dozen people were detained in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is known that there are children among the detainees. One of the detainees is a 17-year-old girl who handed out leaflets. Previously, the authorities have repeatedly reminded that the involvement of minors in riots is punishable by law.
On the eve of the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the involvement of minors in illegal actions on the facts of calls to participate in protest actions. The day before, the hashtag #ChildrenVnePolitiki was launched on the Internet in order to ensure the safety of minors in connection with calls for unauthorized actions. It was noted that on January 20, there was a massive spread of calls to participate in rallies on social networks. Moreover, the addressees of distribution were minors with an emphasis on children aged 12-14 years.
The Prosecutor General’s Office demanded to restrict access to websites that publish calls for teenagers to take part in illegal rallies that day.