On Friday, March 8, Moscow police detained 16 feminist protesters for violating public order during a sanctioned rally in Moscow.

      A rally, which had been sanctioned by the officials, took place  in Novopushkinsky Square, involving around 100 people. "At the end of the really, a group of citizens showed up shouting slogans that had not been agreed on and who broke the rules of conducting rallies", Moscow police's press service reports. The organizers had to stop the meeting, after which those detained were taken to a police station. Few hours later they all were released.

      Protesters at the "Feminism Is Liberation" rally claimed the police had used heavy-handed tactics to break up the protest and continued abusing activists after detaining them.