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Kremlin: Putin faces no serious rivals that can challenge his political dominance

The level of Putin’s popularity goes far beyond Russia's borders, Peskov stressed

MOSCOW, January 29./TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday he saw no rivals to Vladimir Putin on the political pinnacle at the moment.

He said ‘no’ in reply to the question whether the Kremlin saw opposition activist and blogger Alexei Navalny as a political threat to Putin.

"The level of Putin’s popularity goes far beyond the borders of Russia. Hardly anyone can question Putin’s being the absolute leader of the public opinion, the absolute leader of the political pinnacle that hardly anyone can compete with seriously at the present stage," he said. According to Peskov, "Putin has repeatedly confirmed his unquestionable leadership and continues to do this".

About 1,000 people took part in an unauthorized rally of supporters of Russian opposition activist and blogger Alexei Navalny in Moscow, no ungrounded detentions were reported, Kirill Kabanov, a member of the presidential human rights council, who monitored the situation in Moscow, said on Sunday.

"There were no ungrounded detentions. Everything was done properly," he said, adding that the rally had brought together about 1,200 participants. "There were no ungrounded detentions. Everything was done properly," he said, adding that the rally had brought together about 1,200 participants.

The council’s chairman, Mikhail Fedotov, said earlier about 5,000 people had taken part in Navalny supporters’ rallies, both authorized and unauthorized, across the country.

Replying to reporters’ question about Kremlin’s attitude to protest rallies across Russia on Sunday, Peskov called the position of the Kremlin administration ‘rather consistent’.

"In some settlements these actions, as a matter of fact not numerous, had been authorized, which is in line with the law. In certain places they had not been authorized and alternative suggestions as to the venue were declined in an emphatic manner. In this case they were against the legislation," the Kremlin spokesman said.

"Of course, the main thing here is to ensure law, security and public order," he added.