The Moscow mayor’s office has rejected an application by Russia’s political opposition to hold a protest march in the center of the city on February 4.

Authorities said the proposed demonstration would disturb traffic and violate the rights of Muscovites.

The organizers were offered an alternative location outside the downtown area.

Russia has seen several large-scale demonstrations since parliamentary elections in December that were widely viewed as falsified.

After tens of thousands turned out for late-December anti-Kremlin and anti-Putin rallies, critics of the country’s current leadership around the country slated February 4 as the date for the next major demonstrations.

Protesters have called on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is seeking to return to the Kremlin in a presidential election in March, to resign.

compiled from agency reports

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