Putin Press Secretary: "Protesters who hurt riot police should have their livers smeared on the asphalt"
Dmitri Medvedev took his old spot as Prime Minister of Russia while Vladimir Putin settled in to his old digs at the Kremlin. Protests in Moscow continue despite mass arrests. The Washington Post reports no regrets from the Kremlin to accusations of police brutality:
"They were too soft," [Putin Press Secretary Dmitri] Peskov said, according to a tweet from Duma Deputy Ilya Ponomarev. "Protesters who hurt riot police should have their livers smeared on the asphalt."
Police on Tuesday afternoon said they had detained more than 300 people in the previous 24 hours. They kept snatching protesters off the street, apparently trying to keep them off balance, and often the only apparent offense was wearing a white ribbon symbolizing protest. As Michael Idov, editor of Russian GQ, tweeted: "Nothing like seeing people arrested for an accessory."