Dozens detained at a rally in Moscow held by Kremlin-friendly Communist Party, party says

Moscow police detained around 60 individuals at a protest organized by Russia's Kremlin-aligned Communist Party on Sunday, according to the party. The gathering commemorated the 1993 Kremlin suppression of a parliamentary uprising. The detained were mostly young people, and the party's Moscow branch is trying to secure their release.

During the protest, demonstrators chanted phrases like "Freedom for political prisoners," "For fair elections," and "Down with the Tsar." The demonstration occurred as Russia faces growing resentment due to intensified Ukrainian drone strikes, causing fuel shortages and disrupting daily life, including in Moscow. The October 1993 violence marked a critical point in the standoff between President Boris Yeltsin and hardline lawmakers opposed to his market reforms.

Yeltsin disbanded the parliament, and in response, demonstrators backed by the lawmakers attempted to seize the state television broadcasting center. The military then intervened, using tanks to shell the parliament building. Official reports stated that 123 people lost their lives, while unofficial figures estimated the death toll to be in the hundreds.

The Communist Party has been a dominant force in parliament since the 1990s, led for over three decades by 82-year-old Gennady Zyuganov, a former Soviet official. Despite supporting the war in Ukraine throughout Putin's prolonged rule, the communists have criticized certain government policies while avoiding any criticism of the current leader.