On Wednesday, December 12, the Moscow authorities finally refused to approve a planned opposition Freedom March, city security chief Alexei Mayorov said.

      Both sides failed to arrange for the route of the march. The organizers insisted on several different routes ending at one of the city’s central squares, but they all were turned down by the Moscow officials.

      One of the opposition leaders, Sergei Udaltsov, confirmed the news.  “The negotiations have ended in nothing,” he said, "The event seems to be unsanctioned, unless the Government decides to continue negotiations. If it not, we are still meeting on the Lubyanka square on December 15. Everyone comes on his own account."

      The mayor’s office stated it will ask the prosecutor’s office and other law enforcement agencies to issue a formal warning to the Freedom March organizers not to go ahead with the event, Udaltsov added.

      The decision to hold the Freedom March in Moscow on December 15 was taken in November by the Opposition Coordination Council. About 50,000 participants were expected to turn up. The march was to mark the anniversary of the protest movement in Russia that erupted after last December’s parliamentary elections.