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Russian opposition plans mass rally demanding change of power

The Moscow mayor’s office authorized the rally in the Maryino district located 17 kilometers away from the center of Moscow

MOSCOW, September 16 /TASS/. Supporters of Russian opposition figurehead Alexey Navalny are planning to organize an authorized "For Change of Power" rally in Moscow, which, they claim, will assemble about 40,000 people. They demanded the rally be held in the city center.

On Wednesday, the Moscow mayor’s office gave permission for holding the rally in the Maryino neighbourhood, located 17 kilometers away from the center of Moscow.

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

"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.