Tens of thousands march against Putin’s mandate

MOSCOW

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters thronged the streets of Moscow on Sept. 15 to keep up the pressure on President Vladimir Putin four months into his new mandate.

Leftists, liberals and nationalists mixed with students and teachers as they marched down Moscow’s boulevards chanting “Russia without Putin!” the Associated Press reported. Some 40,000 people turned out for the “March of Millions”, according to Agence France-Presse. The protests broke out after a December parliamentary election won by Putin through what observers said was widespread fraud, and they grew in strength ahead of Putin’s effectively unopposed election in March to a third presidential term.