Tens of Thousands Protest Putin in Eastern Russia

At least 50,000 Russians took to the streets of Khabarovsk in eastern Russia this weekend to oppose President Vladimir Putin, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The intensity and size of the protests have "little precedent in modern Russia," the Times said. Anti-Putin activists estimate that between 50,000 and 100,000 Russians attended these events. The protests come in response to the arrest and detainment of local governor Sergei I. Furgal on charges of murder allegedly committed in the early 2000s.

Many speculate that the arrest of Furgal—who beat a Kremlin-backed...