TODAY: Clashes at Moscow anti-Putin protest attended by up to 120,000; tear gas used to disperse protestors; up to 600 arrested; Navalny, Nemtsov and Udalstov among them. Independent news websites blocked; gay campaigner fined; navy chief ousted.  Putin’s inauguration day

Yesterday’s opposition March of a Million rally in Moscow, which attracted between 30,000 and 120,000 people, descended into violence and resulted in the arrests of opposition leaders Sergei Udaltsov, Aleksei Navalny and Boris Nemtsov.  Figures for the number of protestors detained at the protest (held on the eve of Putin’s inauguration) vary from 250, to 400, to 600.   The Independent reports that at least six people were taken to hospital during the rally which saw police use tear gas as ralliers broke through police cordons.  According to Ria-Novosti, a total of 29 police officers were injured.  RFE/RL has video footage of the clashes.  “Putin has shown his true face, how he ‘loves’ his people – with police force,” a computer analyst who took part in the protest told Reuters.  The President elect’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile told TV station Dozhd: ‘From my point of view, the police acted softly. I’d rather they behave more harshly.’  The Moscow Times notes a ‘shift in atmosphere’ from previous demonstrations with a ‘higher concentration of aggressive and radical demonstrators in the crowd than at previous opposition events’.  The Washington Post suggests the change reflects the growing ‘sense of anger and impotence’.  Ria-Novosti concurs that Putin is facing hitherto inexperienced levels of distrust.