Police grabbed about 60 people in Moscow on Sunday as a rally organized by Russia’s Kremlin-friendly Communist Party was ending. Most of those taken were young. The party said its Moscow branch was working to get them released. What started as a memorial event turned into something sharper. People began to chant. Freedom for political prisoners. For fair elections. Down with the Tsar. That last one points straight at Vladimir Putin.

The rally marked the anniversary of the Kremlin’s 1993 crushing of a parliamentary uprising. It was supposed to be authorized. The Communist Party has held these events for years as a symbol of resistance to the reforms of the Yeltsin era. But this time, as the crowd began to wind down, the tone shifted. Witnesses told the Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti that police charged into the crowd after the anti-Kremlin slogans rang out. Some detainees were held overnight pending court hearings, according to the independent outlet Sotavision.

Around 2,000 people had gathered for the event, according to multiple reports. Not all of them were Communist Party supporters. Of those arrested, about 26 were from the Communist Party and around 30 were from the liberal Yabloko party, which opposes Putin and the war in Ukraine. The rest were activists. The Communist Party itself generally aligns with the Kremlin on major national security and foreign policy issues, including support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. It occasionally criticizes domestic policy but does not directly challenge Putin’s rule. That makes the turn at this rally notable.

Public protests against Putin are extremely rare and are often met with immediate crackdowns from the police. This one was no exception. Law enforcement busted into the crowd and started making arrests after chants against Putin began to ring out, according to reports from Pravda and other outlets. Posts circulating on Telegram showed officers entering the crowd and grabbing people amid chaotic scenes.

The context here matters. The war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year and remains the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. Russian forces have taken most of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad in Donetsk Oblast but have not converted those positions into a wider advance. Ukrainian drone attacks have been intensifying deep inside Russia. Public frustration has been simmering during these strikes. The Russian war in Ukraine poses a direct threat to Putin’s life, according to reporting that cites secret European intelligence documents and statements from Ukrainian defense intelligence. Putin himself fears a coup in Russia and believes he could be assassinated using drones, Russian media reported in May, citing those secret documents.

The war is also frustrating the oligarch class and everyday Russians. Russia’s 2026 budget deficit has already exceeded the annual target by half. Economic problems and frontline casualties are mounting. Business elites are being asked to contribute more while facing greater uncertainty over their wealth, political position, and future. Putin’s determination to achieve victory, despite setbacks, has placed increasing burdens on Russia’s business and political leaders. High-level dissent is being stamped out as Putin makes big business bear the costs of the invasion, but concern is mounting, according to analysis from Chatham House.

Putin’s approval ratings have also taken a hit. He enjoyed approval numbers as high as 89 percent before invading Ukraine. Those numbers have free-fallen to about 65 percent in the latest state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center survey, according to reporting from the New York Post. Trust in Putin has declined as well. While this pressure from the public and Russia’s oligarchs is not enough to threaten his grip on Moscow, it is causing him to act carefully and avoid triggering more unrest. Experts say there is a strong desire to end the war, but it is not likely to lead to major unrest or a palace coup.

Still, the images from Sunday stick with you. Officers charging into a crowd that had gathered to mark a historical anniversary. Young people being taken away. Chants that cut through the usual careful language of Russian politics. Down with the Tsar. That phrase does not get said lightly in Moscow. Not when public protests are rare. Not when the police response is swift and certain.

The Communist Party said around 65 mostly young people were detained. Some were released later that evening, according to senior Communist Party lawmaker Dmitry Novikov. Others were not so lucky. The independent outlet Sotavision reported that authorities held several participants overnight pending court hearings. The party’s Moscow branch said it was working to secure the release of those held.

This is where the story gets quiet. Because the rally was authorized. Because the Communist Party is Kremlin-friendly. Because the chants came at the end, as people were leaving. And because the response was still the same. Police moved in. People were taken. The message was clear. Even at an approved event, even from a party that usually backs the Kremlin on the war, there are lines you do not cross. Not when you call for Putin’s demise. Not when you chant against the tsar.

The war in Ukraine is frustrating the oligarch class and everyday Russians. That frustration is real. It shows up in budget deficits and approval ratings and in the growing burden on business elites. But it also shows up in moments like this one. A rally that turns into a protest. A chant that cuts through the noise. And a police response that reminds everyone what happens when you push too far.

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