Several people have been arrested in Russia after protests against the results of recent parliamentary election.
In Yekaterinburg in the Urals, police officers arrested nine activists, the civil rights portal OVD-Info reported on Sunday. One of them was reportedly beaten during his arrest.
On Saturday, people in several Russian cities had protested against the results of the Duma election, conducted about a week ago, which they consider to be rigged.
In Moscow, according to independent observers, around 1,000 people responded to a call for protest by the Communist Party.
There had already been protests at the beginning of last week. In the days that followed, 90 people were arrested in connection with the rallies, according to OVD-Info.
Despite a slump in support, the ruling pro-Kremlin party United Russia had clearly won the three-day vote with 49.8 percent of the vote, according to official figures. The Communists came in second with 18.9 percent.
The election was also seen as a test of President Vladimir Putin. However, the opposition and election observers complained of massive violations during the vote count. The handling of votes cast online by Moscow voters has been particularly criticized: Their results were published rather late and influenced the final result in favour of United Russia.