Russian Police Detain Opposition Leaders Before Rally

Russian riot police detained at least three opposition leaders on Saturday as they tried to attend a banned rally against President Vladimir Putin, witnesses said.

Leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov raised a fist in the air as police grabbed him under the arms and hauled him away into a waiting van near Lubyanka Square in central Moscow, where several hundred people had gathered for the rally.

Ilya Yashin said on Twitter that he and Ksenia Sobchak, both of them prominent members of the opposition, were detained as they made their way to the rally in front of the former KGB security police’s headquarters on Lubyanka Square.