Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State has called for Russia to end “persecution of independent voices” on Saturday after Moscow arrested around 200 municipal deputies and politicians from the opposition.  

In a tweet, Blinken wrote on Saturday, “We call for an end to the persecution of independent voices.”

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Russian police are known to disrupt and disband opposition protests however the mass arrests of opposition deputies in Moscow has been unprecedented. 

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The forum was organized by a project which is backed by strong Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The conference saw participants from 50 parts of Russia gathered together to discuss the parliamentary and local elections in September.

Several detained activists said they have been ordered to appear in court later on after being released.