Protesters across Russia call for Alexey Navalny’s release on same day as Putin’s annual address Russian security forces rounded up more than 1,000 demonstrators on Wednesday as thousands of people in cities across the country rallied in support of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny, according to OVD-Info, an independent monitoring group. The unauthorized marches fell short of the 500,000 protesters that Navalny’s team had aimed to draw, but big crowds in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities has shown the dedication of his supporters, who are demanding that the hunger-striking Kremlin critic be released and allowed to receive independent medical care.