A Russian protesting the brutal invasion of Ukraine was filmed being beaten by police in riot gear, as anti-war demonstrations were held across the country.
Around 5,000 people took part in events across 56 different cities in dozens of Russian cities, with chants of “no to war” and shame on you” aimed at tyrant Vladimir Putin.
Dozens of protesters in Yekaterinburg, near the Urals mountains, were filmed on social media being detained by police.
One of the group was shown being dragged to the ground in snowy conditions by police dressed in riot gear who hit him with truncheons, before one aimed a kick at his chest.
The scene was quickly hidden by more officers, before the person filming was shoved away.
Russia's interior ministry said police detained around 3,500 people, including 1,700 in Moscow, 750 in Saint Petersburg and 1,061 in other cities.
Independent protest monitoring group The OVD-Info said it had documented the detention of at least 4,366 people in 56 different cities.
Spokeswoman Maria Kuznetsova said: “The screws are being fully tightened - essentially we are witnessing military censorship
"We are seeing rather big protests today, even in Siberian cities where we only rarely saw such numbers of arrests."
Some Russian state-controlled media carried short reports about Sunday's protests but they did not feature high in news bulletins.
Russia's RIA news agency said the Manezhnaya Square in Moscow was "liberated" by police, who had arrested some participants of an unsanctioned protest against the military operation in Ukraine.
RIA also showed footage of what appeared to be supporters of the Kremlin driving along the embankment in Moscow with Russian flags and displaying the "Z" and "V" markings used by Russian forces on tanks operating in Ukraine.
About 2,000 people also attended an anti-war protest in Kazakhstan's biggest city Almaty.
A Lenin statue in the city had blue and yellow balloons taped to his hands while others waved Ukrainian flags.
At another protest in Saint Petersburg, a Russian survivor of the Second World War WW2 was arrested by Kremlin goons.
As a peaceful protest took place in the city riot police moved in.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has hailed the bravery of Russian protesters, adding in the Commons: "They remind us that the Russian people are not our enemy, they are the victims of thieves who have stolen their wealth and stolen their chance of democracy."
