The Kremlin said on Tuesday there could be no dialog with people who protest violently and illegally after tens of thousands took to the streets over the weekend to demand the release of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that the levels of violence from some protesters were unprecedented and that they had behaved very aggressively.
He said incidences of police violence against protesters, some of which were captured on video, were far fewer and being investigated.