Thousands protest in Russia's far east
Thousands marched in the Russian far eastern city of Khabarovsk on Saturday (August 1) for the fourth weekend in a row.
Residents are angry over the detention of a popular regional governor.
Sergei Furgal was arrested on July 9 on murder charges, which he denies.
His supporters say the arrest was politically motivated.
It's triggered weeks of demonstrations.
Marching under heavy rain beneath umbrellas, protesters chanted "Freedom!" and "We came here of our own will."
One banner read "Russia without Putin" and protesters also chanted "Putin resign!"
The situation is creating a headache for the Kremlin, which is trying to revive a stuttering economy and keep a lid on unrest.
Khabarovsk is around 3,800 miles and seven time zones east of Moscow, but that's not stopped protesters from having their voices heard.
Such sustained demonstrations are unusual for Russia's regions, as is the fact that authorities have not yet moved to break them up.
The protests have highlighted anger among some in the far east over what they see as policies coming from detached Moscow-based authorities on the other side of the country.
Supporters of Furgal, who is a member of the nationalist LDPR party, feel he is being punished for defeating a candidate from the ruling pro-Putin United Russia party in 2018.
The Kremlin says Furgal has serious charges to answer for.
Putin has named a new acting governor, but protesters say he has no connection with the region and have called on him to step down too.
