Police in Niznhy Novgorod on Saturday arrested more than a dozen people attempting to hold an unsanctioned anti-government demonstration in the central Russian city, DPA reported.
Several dozen people gathered in the central square of the city some 400 kilometres east of the capital Moscow. Unlike many other anti-government protests taking place in the country, the Nizhny Novgorod demonstration had not been approved ahead of time by authorities, the Interfax news agency reported.
Police used force to break up the demonstration, arresting 15 people. One female demonstrator was hospitalised, eyewitnesses said.