(24 Dec 2011)
Moscow
1. Mid shot police at rally by supporters of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), with banner reading in Russian: "Authorities should be changed!"
2. Mid shot party leader Zhirinovsky walking towards the rally venue
3. Wide shot rally
4. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the Liberal Democratic Party:
"Don't take us for idiots. We will arrange for your dances in prison cells if you continue to behave in this way. This is only part of Russian society. What will happen if the LDPR takes people to the streets? Fourteen (m) million voted for us, ten percent would be enough to wipe you (authorities) away by peaceful means."
5. Mid shot supporters
6. Mid shot LDPR flags
7. Mid shot supporters
8. Close-up shot flags
St Petersburg
9. Wide shot nationalists with banner reading in Russian: "Slavic power"
10. Close-up yellow banner reading in Russian: "All-Russian popular movement - Russians against Putin"
11. Individual protesters with posters, calling for reform, including the abolition of censorship
12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Andrei Korsh, Protester and businessman:
"We stand for honest elections. My vote was stolen from me. I voted in Petrovsky district and saw with my own eyes what violations happened there."
13. Wide shot protesters
14. Wide shot protesters
15. Close-up shot Russian imperial flags
16. Mid shot line of police
17. Mid shot police checking people
18. Wide shot people passing through police
STORYLINE:
Tens of thousands of demonstrators cheered Russian opposition leaders on Saturday and jeered the Kremlin in the biggest show of outrage yet against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule.
The Moscow demonstration was even bigger than a similar rally two weeks ago, signalling that the protest movement ignited by the fraud-tainted December 4 parliamentary election may be growing.
Protest were also held in dozens of other cities and towns across Russia, including St Petersburg.
Rally participants densely packed a broad avenue, which has room for nearly 100,000 people, about 2.5 kilometres (some 1.5 miles) from the Kremlin, as the temperature dipped well below freezing.
They chanted "Russia without Putin!"
Several hundred supporters of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), gathered to protest against the allegedly fraudulent elections.
"Don't take us for idiots," Zhirinovsky told the crowd. "We will arrange for your dances in prison cells if you continue to behave in this way. This is only part of Russian society. What will happen if the LDPR takes people on the streets? Fourteen (m) million voted for us, ten percent would be enough to wipe you (authorities) away by peaceful means."
In St Petersburg demonstrators demanded new elections and the dismissal of Vladimir Churov, head of the central election commission, who is blamed for alleged vote rigging.
"We stand for honest elections. My vote was stolen from me. I voted in Petrovsky district and saw with my own eyes what violations happened there," said demonstrator Andrei Korsh.
Putin's United Russia party lost 25 percent of its seats in the election, but hung onto a majority in parliament through what independent observers said was widespread fraud.
The recent protests in Moscow and other cities have dented Putin's authority as he seeks to reclaim the presidency in a March vote.
The Kremlin has responded by promising a set of political reforms that would allow more political competition in future elections.
They say maintaining momentum is key to forcing Putin's government to accept their demands.
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