The trigger for some of the biggest protests to sweep Russia in years was the arrest of opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was detained on his return to the country last month after surviving poisoning by a nerve agent.
The anger runs deeper, however, and some protesters, young and old, say they have also taken to the streets to vent their frustration over declining living standards and the perceived gap between a small, wealthy elite and ordinary people.
Real incomes fell 3.5% last year, unemployment is at its highest since 2011 and the economy in 2020, hit hard by the pandemic, is estimated to have suffered its sharpest contraction in 11 years.