Moscow Opposition Rally Under Way

Authorities in Moscow deployed more than 2,000 police to control the crowd.

Prior to the rally, police briefly detained opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Red Youth Avant-Garde group.

"There has been a real hunt after me recently," Udaltsov told RFE/RL today. "The day before yesterday I was taken off a flight to St. Petersburg, where I was flying to take part in the March of Dissent. I was under surveillance for three days. I had to use back streets to get around Moscow, trying to join the March of Dissent, but they still tracked me down and detained me."

Moscow authorities gave the opposition permission to hold the demonstration if attendance did not exceed 500 participants.

Protesters are gathering at a central square, but have been refused permission to march down Moscow's central Tverskaya Street as they had requested.

The rally comes two days after the opposition staged a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg on June 9.

The latest in the series of events known as the March of Dissent, the demonstration was timed to coincide with an international economic forum in St. Petersburg.

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