Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Moscow on Monday, railing against the ruling party after a reportedly rigged election that saw Vladimir Putin's United Russia party win a majority. The demonstration, which ended in several arrests, was "perhaps the largest opposition rally in years," the Associated Press reported. Estimates of the demonstration's numbers ranged from 5,000 to 10,000, and their message was clear: They want Putin to go away. After the main protest, in which thousands of demonstrators yelled, "Russia without Putin," a smaller group of several hundred "marched toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, but were stopped by riot police and taken away in buses."

Police haven't had to deal with these kinds of demonstrations for a long time, but as the AP reported separately, the allegations of ballot stuffing and other election fraud have been widespread and serious enough that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a "full investigation of all credible reports of electoral fraud and manipulation."

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Adam Martin