Dozens of people were detained by Russian police in Moscow following a rally organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) to commemorate the victims of the October 1993 events, when the confrontation between President Boris Yeltsin and the Russian parliament culminated in the military assault and shelling of the House of Soviets.
The detentions took place on October 4, although further details and court proceedings emerged on October 5.
The commemorative rally had been authorized by the Moscow authorities and was attended by CPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov and other party officials. According to the CPRF, around 60–65 people, many of them young participants, were detained as the event was concluding and were taken to several police stations across the Russian capital. Some were subsequently released.
The arrests came as groups of participants began chanting slogans including “Freedom for political prisoners,” “No to political repression,” “For fair elections” and “Down with the Tsar.”
Other slogans were directed against the ruling United Russia party and the state communications regulator Roskomnadzor. On October 5, a Moscow court sentenced one participant, Kirill Martemyanov, to 14 days in administrative detention, while Maria Usoltseva was fined 4,000 rubles for allegedly disobeying police orders.
The CPRF, while periodically criticizing aspects of the Russian government’s domestic policy, supports the imperialist war in Ukraine and calls for strengthening the war effort.
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