The protests began in Vladivostok, on Russia's Pacific coast, and spread Westwards across 85 cities across the country's nine time zones. The ritual was familiar enough from the last major wave of protests in the summer of 2019 - several thousand banner-carrying protesters calling for the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, an overwhelming show of force by the police, baton charges, cracked heads, mass arrests. By the end...
