Russian opposition plans mass rally demanding change of power

The mayor’s office suggested changing the venue to Maryino because of an international marathon due to take place in Moscow this weekend, ITAR TASS reports.

"The rally organizers notified us last night that they accepted our proposal to change the event’s venue to Maryino and hold the rally on September 20. They agreed to our proposal. So it means that the rally has been authorized and will take place on September 20 with declared numbers of 40,000 people," Moscow’s regional security Chief Alexey Mayorov told TASS on Wednesday.

It’s going to be the first opposition rally since September 13 when opposition parties and movements suffered a defeat at regional and local elections. Even in Kostroma, the only region where Alexey Navalny’s supporters managed to nominate their candidates, they failed to overcome a 5% election threshold and win seats in local legislatures.

Full-scale regional and local elections took place in Russia on September 13. Voters in 21 regions elected governors by direct ballot; elections to legislative assemblies took place in 11 regions and new city Dumas (legislatures) were elected in 23 regional capitals.