Law enforcement officers and journalists run along a street after a rally to demand authorities allow opposition candidates to run in the upcoming local election in Moscow, Russia August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
August 13, 2019
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin denied on Tuesday that a series of political protests in Moscow in recent weeks have created a political crisis in Russia in its first comments on the rallies.
The demonstrations, over elections for the Moscow city legislature, have turned into the biggest sustained protest movement in Russia since 2011-2013, when protesters took to the streets against perceived electoral fraud.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that tough police action at the rallies had been justified, but that individual cases of police excess were being looked into.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Andrew Osborn and Andrey Kuzmin; editing by Andrew Osborn)
