Tens of thousands participated in a fourth
consecutive weekend protest of the exclusion
of some independent and opposition
candidates from the local election ballot,
according to police and an organization that
counts attendance at public meetings.
Unlike for demonstrations held the previous
two weeks, when police made more than 1,000
arrests at each, organizers had a permit for last
weekend event. More than 200 people were
reported arrested after some rally participants
moved the protest from its sanctioned spot
into the heart of the Russian capital.
Roskomnadzor said it complained to Google
in a letter about unspecified “structures”
with YouTube channels using their accounts
with the video sharing site to send push-
notifications about unsanctioned gatherings,
“including those aimed at damaging federal
and regional elections.”
YouTube is a Google subsidiary. If the internet
company based in California doesn’t address
the issue, Russia would have the right to
retaliate, the agency said in a statement.
“In the event of Google not taking reactive
measures, the Russian Federation will consider
this as interference in the sovereign affairs
of state and also as hostile and hindering
to the conduction of democratic elections in
Russia and will reserve for itself the right to
adequate response,” Roskomnadzor said its
letter stressed.
The determined opposition to some candidates
being kept out of the Moscow election appears
to have unsettled Russian authorities.