A spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Maja Kocijančič commented on the arrest of more than a thousand participants of the uncoordinated protest in Moscow.

According to her, the actions of the Russian Security Forces are a violation of the rights to freedom of assembly, expression, and association that are established in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Kocijančič noted that well-known opposition representatives and journalists were among the detainees and called on the Russian authorities to comply with international obligations during the local elections.

"These detentions, and the disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters once again seriously undermine the fundamental freedoms of expression, association, and assembly," reads the statement published on the EU website.

The main wave of arrests took place near the city hall, the second wave  in the Trubnaya Square area. According to the Russian Internal Affair Ministry, 1074 people were detained, OVD-Info news outlet reported about 1371 detainees. There are numerous videos on the Internet in which employees of the National Guard of Russia beat people with batons.

  EU, Moscow, Russia

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