Police detain protesters during an unauthorized protest rally against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow Sunday. Yulia Navalny, the activist's wife, was among over 1,500 people detained in the city, per AP. She was released after a few hours. Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Over 5,000 demonstrators were detained in major Russian cities Sunday, as authorities cracked down on people who defied orders and protested against the detention of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, monitoring groups said.
Why it matters: Navalny's detention has united Russians from a variety of backgrounds, including those who are against his politics, to protest the authoritarian leadership of President Vladimir Putin, per the New York Times.
Russian prosecutors have demanded that social media platforms censor calls to join protests, AP notes.
People with Russian national flags take part in an unauthorized protest in Novosibirsk. Demonstrators rallied despite police arresting thousands of protesters last week. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar/TASS via Getty ImagePolice officers detain a protester in St. Petersburg. Moscow School for Social and Economic Sciences sociologist Konstantin Gaaze told the NYT, "Navalny has, for the first time, sparked a Russian protest movement against the president." Photo: Sergei Mikhailichenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesRiot police at an unauthorized rally in Vladivostok. Photo: Yuri Smityuk/TASS via Getty ImagesA police officer detains a demonstrator during an unauthorized protest in the Far East city of Yakutsk in the Republic of Sakha. Photo: Vadim Skryabin/TASS via Getty ImagesMoscow law enforcement officers stand guard outside Chistye Prudy metro station ahead of a planned unauthorized rally. Authorities shut stations and were restricting movement across the city, the BBC notes. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty ImagesDemonstrators and police officers in Yakutsk, where temperatures have hit -39 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo: Vadim Skryabin/TASS via Getty ImageRiot police detain a demonstrator in Novosibirsk. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar\TASS via Getty ImagesThe scene in St Petersburg ahead of an unauthorized rally in the port city. Photo: Alexander Demianchuk/TASS via Getty ImagesPolice officers detain a demonstrator during an unauthorized protest in Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains. Photo: Donat Sorokin/TASS via Getty ImagesNovosibirsk police officers detain demonstrators. Photo: Kirill Kukhmar/TASS via Getty ImagesVladivostok police officers detain a demonstrator. Photo: Yuri Smityuk/TASS via Getty ImagesYulia Navalny, Alexei Navalny's wife, joined protesters in Moscow, Russia. Yulia has been released after she was arrested by police officers who did not properly identify themselves, according to a tweet from Navalny's team. Photo: Yulia Navalny via APPolice block the street at Matrosskaya Tishina, the penitentiary where Alexei Navalny is being held in Moscow. Photo: AP Photo/Dmitry SerebryakovMoscow police officers detain a demonstrator. Photo: AP Photo/Alexander ZemlianichenkoPolice officers detain a demonstrator in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia. Photo: AP PhotoPolice officers detain a demonstrator in St. Petersburg. Photo: AP Photo/Valentin EgorshinPolice officers detain demonstrator in the capital of Buryatia, near the Russia-Mongolia border. Photo: AP Photo/Anna Ogorodnik
