Dozens of protesters were detained Sunday at demonstrations in Moscow against Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
According to police estimates, 50 anti-war protesters were detained, Dozhd television reported. The independent detention monitoring website Ovdinfo.org, counted more than 360 people that had been detained, including 130 demonstrators outside the Defense Ministry and 230 demonstrators at central Moscow's Manezh Square.
Dozhd reported that those detained at Manezh Square included a number of pensioners.
On Saturday, President Vladimir Putin's request for permission to use Russian military forces in Ukraine was approved unanimously by the Federation Council. Putin has said that he will use force to protect Russian interests and Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, pro-Russia areas that have seen calls for separation from the government in Kiev that took power after former president and Kremlin ally Viktor Yanukovych fled the country amid anti-government protests.
Another rally in Moscow, one in support of intervention, was held on the city's Boulevard Ring. Police estimated that 27,000 people attended, with reporters from The Associated Press and Reuters posting on their Twitter accounts that many attendees were state employees. No detentions were reported.
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