MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Many examples of video footage from the January 31 unlawful rallies have shown the aggression of protesters against law enforcement officers, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, when asked to comment on the footage showing the police using force against protesters during detention.
"We need to see each specific case separately. Let’s not make primitive evaluations of the footage, of the means of force taken against a specific person, without thinking about what caused such tough measures, what the person was acting like literally 30 seconds before," he stated.
The spokesman stressed that there is a large number of videos showing attacks on Russian law enforcement officers, which is absolutely unacceptable.
When asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had seen the footage from the protests, Peskov stressed that the Russian leader "can’t see every video," as thousands of different videos are taken during the rallies.
Peskov also expressed confidence that there had been no mass detentions of journalists during the rallies, stressing that any generalizations are unacceptable on this issue.
The spokesman stated that "each specific case is important," however, it is even more important to note that "this is about ensuring order during an unlawful rally." "Generally speaking, the reporters worked absolutely normally, they wore special vests, no one bothered them," he said.
Unsanctioned rallies in Russia
On January 31, a number of unsanctioned rallies were held in Russia’s major cities. According to TASS reporters on the scene, fewer people attended the protests than a week ago, and overall, the situation was calmer than on January 23. According to the existing data, the rally in Yekaterinburg was the most numerous, with 2,300 people in attendance. In Moscow, the police estimated the number of protesters at 2,000, while a week ago, the police suggested that about 4,000 people attended the rallies.
Some participants of the unsanctioned rallies were detained. There is no exact figure on the number of people detained in Moscow and St. Petersburg.