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    May 06, 2012

Russian Police, Protesters Clash at Anti-Putin Rally

   VOA News
   Participants sit down on the street during the "march of the million"
   opposition protest in central Moscow, May 6, 2012. Photo: Reuters
   Participants sit down on the street during the "march of the million"
   opposition protest in central Moscow, May 6, 2012.

   Russian riot police clashed with demonstrators Sunday as an estimated
   20,000 people protested on the eve of Vladimir Putin's inauguration for
   a third presidential term.
   Helmeted officers beat protesters with batons and hauled away dozens
   after skirmishes broke out between the two sides near a bridge leading
   across the Moscow river to the Kremlin.
   Those detained include three key leaders in the protest movement
   against Putin - Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov.
   Officials say at least four officers were injured.
   Putin has been Russia's prime minister since relinquishing the
   presidency in 2008. He won the country's March 4 presidential election
   by a landslide, but the opposition disputes the victory, calling it a
   stolen election.
   World leaders acknowledged Putin's victory with reservations, and
   international observers say the election was clearly skewed in the
   former president's favor.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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