"Down with the Tsar!": Over 60 People Detained at CPRF Rally in Moscow
The action by Russian communists, agreed with the authorities, turned into a clash with the police. What began as a tribute to those who died in 1993 ended with mass arrests and shouts of "Shame!" after the crowd moved on to chanting modern political slogans.
On Sunday, October 4, 2026, a mass action organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation took place near the monument to the Heroes of the 1905 Revolution on Krasnopresnenskaya Zastava Square in Moscow. The event was timed to coincide with the 33rd anniversary of the dispersal of the Supreme Soviet of Russia in autumn 1993. Formally, the program included a meeting of deputies with voters, a procession, and laying flowers at the memorial to the defenders of the House of Soviets.
Around 2,000 people gathered in the square. In addition to communists, the action was joined by representatives of the "Yabloko" party, members of Marxist organizations, and independent activists.
The peaceful meeting quickly radicalized: participants began chanting slogans "Freedom for political prisoners," "For fair elections," "Down with the party of crooks and thieves," "Down with Roskomnadzor," and "Down with the Tsar!".
The chanting of openly anti-government slogans became a signal for police action. The Moscow Times, citing witnesses and the Telegram channel RusNews, reports that security forces literally burst into the crowd and began snatching people, especially those holding flags.
Detentions were carried out with the use of crude physical force. Witnesses told journalists that one of the protesters, lying on the ground, was kicked by law enforcement officers, and one of the women was dragged by her hair, making her scream in pain. The crowd tried to obstruct the police, chanting "Shame!" in their faces, but this did not stop the arrests. Some witnesses bitterly ironized that the police acted in the best traditions of 1993 itself, to which the rally was dedicated.
Official representatives of the CPRF confirmed information about the detention of 65 people. Among them were about 26 members of the Communist Party and three dozen representatives of "Yabloko." The detainees were distributed among several police departments, including Krasnopresnensky, Krasnoselsky, Meshchansky, and Tagansky District Police Departments. The party leadership stated that it is already working on their release.
The Moscow incident became the loudest episode in a wave of regional protests against the official results of the September elections. The publication The Insider calculated that attempts to hold similar actions were made in at least 14 cities across Russia.
However, real street protests succeeded only in a few places. "For Fair Elections" actions took place in Syktyvkar, Tyumen, and Tobolsk, gathering a total of about 260 people, and there was no police intervention there.
In most major cities, including Moscow itself, where a separate rally was planned for Theatre Square, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg, the authorities categorically refused the organizers, citing coronavirus restrictions or the "basic readiness" regime.
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