MOSCOW – A rally organised by Russia’s Communist Party in central Moscow ended in mass detentions after participants chanted slogans opposing the Kremlin regime, according to independent Russian media.
Approximately 65 people were detained on Sunday after some demonstrators deviated from the officially approved purpose of commemorating the 1993 constitutional crisis, instead calling for fair elections and chanting “Down with the Tsar” . The protest, which drew more than 2,000 participants, marked the second such demonstration in recent days and the most significant display of domestic dissent since the parliamentary elections.
The march began at Krasnopresnenskaya Zastava Square and proceeded toward the Russian White House. Authorities had authorised the event under the pretext of commemorating the October 1993 confrontation between Boris Yeltsin and parliament, during which tanks fired on the legislative building. Official figures cite approximately 150 deaths, though independent estimates place the toll above 300.
Participants carried signs reading “We want freedom,” “Free political prisoners,” “Honest elections,” and “No political repression.” One viral video featured a woman denouncing the regime as “fascism” and accusing police of serving orders rather than the people. Detainees face sentences of 15 to 30 days in jail.
The rally, though not explicitly anti-war, underscored growing discontent among Communist Party supporters who have seen their political influence erode under United Russia’s dominance. The Communist Party holds roughly 30 percent of parliamentary seats but has been steadily marginalised.
On the battlefield, Ukraine’s General Staff reported 2,020 Russian personnel losses in the past 24 hours, the fourth largest single-day figure of the war. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces recorded an all-time high of 637 Russian casualties, comprising 301 killed and 336 wounded. The Finland-based Black Bird Group assessed Russia suffered a net territorial loss of 190 square kilometres in September, the largest monthly loss since June 2023 .
Satellite imagery confirmed the destruction of two Russian fighter aircraft at Khanskaya airfield in the Republic of Adygea, approximately 500 kilometres from Ukrainian controlled territory. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) stated its drones struck a Su-35 multirole fighter valued at approximately $100 million and a Su-34 fighter-bomber worth about $50 million, along with an ammunition depot .
In the economic sphere, Russia’s steel consumption declined for an eighth consecutive quarter, with analysts attributing the downturn to high borrowing costs, a cooling housing market, and delayed infrastructure projects . Severstal estimates metal consumption fell 16 per cent year-on-year for January to August 2026. Russia’s sunflower oil exports, an $8 billion annual industry, collapsed by 98 per cent in September to just 5,000 tonnes from over 200,000 tonnes a year earlier, largely due to damage to Black Sea port infrastructure .
A pneumonic plague outbreak in the Irkutsk region of Siberia has prompted quarantine measures affecting approximately 200 people. A 28-year-old laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute died from the disease, which officials suspect she contracted from a broken test tube . Five hospitals are under quarantine and universities in Irkutsk have cancelled classes.
At the Moldova-Ukraine border, a Russian projectile struck near the Palanca-Maiaki-Udobnoe checkpoint, injuring a Moldovan border guard and damaging a passenger bus. Moldova’s Border Police reported the incident occurred at approximately 09:38 on Monday .
In Kyiv, Russian strikes continue to target civilian infrastructure including bridges across the Dnipro River. A 14-year-old boy, Illia Honcharov, was killed in a missile strike on his home in Vyshhorod. A funeral procession of motorcyclists honoured his love of bikes.
In Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico unveiled a statue honouring Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, who commanded Soviet troops that suppressed the 1956 Hungarian uprising and participated in the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia .
Historical records document centuries of Russian suppression of Ukrainian language and culture, beginning with Peter the Great’s 1720 decree banning Ukrainian language book printing and continuing through Soviet-era policies.
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