On Monday, March 4, three opposition activists were detained on Moscow’s Red Square for attempting to hold an unauthorized protest against Russian top officials.

      According to the city police, the activists were detained for disturbing the peace in the central part of the city at around 1:00 p.m. (9 a.m. GMT), and were taken to a district police station. An administrative action is expected to be taken against them, according to the current legislation.

      The Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov wrote in his twitter microblog that the activists had chained themselves to a gate on the edge of Red Square and unfolded a banner reading “Down with Tsar Putin,” to mark the first anniversary of the “false presidential election.”

      Pro-Kremlin activists also commemorated a year since Putin’s election for a third presidential term on Monday. A 2.5-by-4 meter (12-by-8 feet) banner was put up on a building in central Moscow with words on it: “We’ve Made the Right Choice!” and below: “For Putin!” Moscow police said the banner was quickly removed and nobody was detained.