Russian police gave protesters electric shocks and beatings, grabbed bystanders off the streets, and detained a record number of people — more than 5,000 — during nationwide protests on January 31
Angry protests over widespread corruption and the arrest of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny swept across Russia on January 23. What brought so many more people onto the streets compared to lots of previous protests, despite Kremlin threats and a forceful crackdown? Observers also saw more violence directed against police than most protests in the past