Moscow Officials Approve Putin Supporters\' Rally

The Moscow city government has allowed supporters of Prime Minister and presidential frontrunner Vladimir Putin to march along the city’s downtown Frunzenskaya Embankment and stage a meeting at the Luzhniki Sports Complex on February 23, Deputy Mayor Alexander Gorbenko said on Wednesday. “This morning we met with the organizers, we signed all the necessary documents and agreed the venue of the event,” Gorbenko said adding that the official number of participants for the march has been put at 40,000. The march will begin at 11.30 a.m., Gorbenko continued. The rally at Luzhniki Sports Complex will last from 13.00 to 14.30 p.m. and the participation of up to 100,000 people has been authorized. Putin’s election staff will adhere to the recommendations of the city government, organization's deputy chair Alexey Anisimov said. “We hope, that our candidate [Putin] will take part,” he added. Road traffic at Frunzenskaya Embankment will be suspended between 08.00 and 12.00 am, Gorbenko said. “This site [Frunzenskaya Embankment] is quite calm at this time of the day. The march will cause minimal problems to traffic,” Gorbenko added. “We also hope the rally at Luzhniki will be comfortable for participants and non-participants,” he added. Earlier, Putin’s People's Front movement and his election staff had applied for a rally to be attended by up to 200,000 people on Manezhnaya Square next to the Kremlin walls. However, city hall rejected these application and proposed other venues. On Tuesday, Putin called on his supporters to adhere to the recommendations of Moscow City Hall.