“Thousands of people marched in the Russian far eastern city of Khabarovsk on Saturday for the fourth weekend in a row, protesting at President Vladimir Putin’s handling of a local political crisis” Reuters reports.
“Residents of Khabarovsk, around 3,800 miles (6,110 km) and seven time zones east of Moscow, are unhappy about the July 9 detention of the wider region’s popular regional governor, Sergei Furgal, who was arrested on murder charges he denies. His detention, which his supporters say was politically motivated, has triggered weeks of street protests, creating a headache for the Kremlin which is trying to troubleshoot a sharp COVID-19-induced drop in real incomes and keep a lid on unrest as the economy stutters. Sheltering from sporadic and heavy rain beneath umbrellas, protesters chanted ‘Freedom!’ and ‘We came here of our own will.’ One banner read ‘Russia without Putin’ and protesters chanted ‘Putin resign!'”