It’s the 31st day of the month and as such, civic movement Strategy 31 will be holding their right to peaceful protest rally in Moscow and other cities across Russia. Last month’s rally saw an eye-opening number of detentions, with 130 people arrested in a violent dispersal, among them prominent Kremlin foes Boris Nemtsov and Eduard Limonov.  Apparently tonight’s gathering has also been the subject of a preemptive crackdown by the authorities.  From Reuters: 

Russian police detained 11 members of an opposition group in a weekend raid on their office and apartments ahead of an anti-government rally on Monday, activists said.

Police linked the searches and arrests to an ongoing investigation into nationalist riots in December near Red Square, law enforcement sources cited by the Kommersant daily said.

But members of the opposition Other Russia group said the arrests were clearly intended to stop them joining Monday’s planned demonstrations on Moscow’s central Triumph Square.