Russia: Thousands of people march in Khabarovsk for the fourth weekend in a row

The Russian far-eastern city of Khabarovsk was gripped with a protest march on August 1 against President Vladimir Putin for the fourth week in a row. According to reports, residents of the region are unhappy with the detention of the wider region's popular regional governor, Sergei Furgal.

Large scale protests carry-on

According to reports, the regional government has been accused of murder and was arrested by the Kremlin and taken away to Moscow on July 9. Many of the governor’s supporters reportedly claim that the arrest is politically motivated because Sergei defeated the Kremlin-backed candidate for the position of Governor during the last election.

As per reports, the large protests have been causing some trouble for Moscow which is currently in a struggle to deal with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated by city authorities that the protest was attended by roughly 3,500 people while several media reports have claimed that the number was closer to 10,000.

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The region of Khabarovsk spans around 3,800 miles (6,110 km) and is so large that t has seven time zones. The region lies east of Moscow. The residents of the region have come out onto the streets as they reportedly see Sergei Furgal as their choice who was voted to power by them and his arrest is seen as another attempt by detached Moscow-based authorities to interfere in their rights.

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According to reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin in the meantime has pointed a new acting governor who the people claim has no connection with the region and thus have also called for him to step down. Prolonged demonstrations of this scale are a rare sight in Russia as per reports, so it the fact that authorities have not moved in to break up the protests.