Thousands of people rallied against Vladimir Putin on Saturday through downtown Moscow. The protest took place a month before presidential elections that could see Prime Minister Putin extend his rule for another six years.

Through the rally and protests, Russians are demanding their right to voice against power and letting out the message that the general public be heard about what it has to say against Putin. Such a protest is being carried out for the first time in many years of Putin’ rule.

The Russians are clearly unhappy by Putin’s rule for the last 12 years, which has led to strict authoritarianism in the nation. The masses earlier protested against Putin in December last year by taking out two rallies, which are said to be the largest public protest witnessed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The number of people reported to have turned up in the protest against Putin is 120,000. They were dressed up in furs to demonstrate their dissatisfaction and mistrust against Putin’s rule in Russia, since the party elections that were held on December 4 (in which Putin had won the Parliamentary election) turned out to be backed-up by fraudulent practices.

The protest saw Russians wearing white ribbons that symbolize “Russia without Putin” and marching for about a mile to reach the square which is located across a river from Kremlin. The protest was reported to be silent and peaceful, without any violence sullying the march.

A smaller rally of 22,000 people in another part of Russia was taken out in support of Putin, comprising teachers, municipal-workers and trade union activists.