Thousands of protesters in Moscow seek free elections

Thousands of Russians fled to downtown Moscow today to seek free elections for the capital's municipality, thus challenging the police order, which has not only banned the manifestations, but earlier protests have forced them to and dozens of arrests.

The demonstrations, which have continued weeks after week, have returned to the longest held in Russia since 2011 and 2013, when thousands of citizens appeared and charged election thefts.

Protesters have demanded that opposition candidates be allowed to participate in the elections. 30 of them, who mainly run as independent, have been removed from the list by the central election commission, which said they were registered with counterfeit firms.

Moscow City Hall and the municipal council are dominated by Putin's supporters. The Kremlin has not reacted, considering the protests as small and insignificant, even though many activists have been arrested.