MOSCOW — More than 1,000 people rallied in the Russian region of Bashkortostan on Friday, continuing a series of protests triggered by the conviction and sentencing of a local activist and handing a new challenge to the Kremlin.
People gathered in the main square of Ufa, the main city of Bashkortostan, a region spread between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, dancing and singing folk songs. Police initially didn’t intervene, but later rounded up about 10 participants as the crowd thinned in freezing temperatures, according to the independent Vyorstka and SOTAvision news outlets.
Protesters shouting “Shame!” tried to block a police bus carrying the detainees in the city of 1.1 million about 1,150 kilometers (700 miles) east of Moscow.
The rally followed clashes on Wednesday in the town of Baymak in which hundreds of protesters faced off with police following the trial of Fail Alsynov, a local activist who was convicted of inciting hatred and sentenced to four years in prison. Police used batons, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters, who chanted “Freedom!” and “Disgrace!” and demanded the ouster of Bashkortostan’s regional leader.
At least 17 people accused of involvement in the clashes were given jail terms ranging from 10 to 13 days.
The unrest was one of the largest reported demonstrations since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and raised the threat of instability in the region of 4 million.
Asked whether the Kremlin was worried about the demonstrations in Bashkortostan, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, downplayed their significance.
“I would disagree with the formulation ‘mass riots’ and ‘mass demonstrations.’ There are no mass riots and mass demonstrations there,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters, even though the country’s top criminal investigation agency launched a probe into the clashes on charges of inciting mass riots.
The tensions in…
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