Russia Protest Nationwide “Russia without Putin!” : PHOTOS

Russia Protest Nationwide “Russia without Putin!” : PHOTOS

Tens of thousands took to Moscow’s streets on Saturday to protest in one of the largest public protest in post-Soviet Russia to prostest the recent electoral fraud and demand an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule.

Protests took place in more than 50 other cities from the Pacific Coast to the southwest, and organizers claimed up to 150,000 including several thousand demonstration in St. Petersburg estimated by local police at 7,000 people. The Moscow rally demonstrated in near-freezing temperatures but no reports of violence or arrest were made, the crowd quietly dispersed by evening.
The protest saw masked participants from various backgrounds holding white ribbons symbolizing the colour of the protest. The protestors chanted: “Russia without Putin!”

Putin, 59, announced in September he plans to return as president next year. The Russian leader in 2008 handed over the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev with fading popularity in his country at stalling wage growth and corruption and electoral fraud.

The nationwide protest comes three months before Putin is to seek a third presidential term. The massive outpouring of public anger challenges his popularity as Russian media portrays Putin as a man backed by the majority of Russians.

However, Last Sunday's parliamentary elections shows otherwise with his United Party retaining a slim majority of seats, even that win was under scrutiny as claims of alleged vote fraud surfaced, the opposition says, citing reports by local and international monitors of widespread violations.

Take a look at the images from the mass Russian December 11, 2011.