Protesters test water in Moscow

About 10,000 people staged a mass “stroll” through central Moscow yesterday to test the state’s tolerance a week after police beat and scattered demonstrators upset over Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency.

With few police in evidence, demonstrators gathered at a statue of revered poet Alexander Pushkin and walked down Moscow’s Boulevard Ring to the site of an Occupy-style, 24-hour protest one mile away. Police took no action.

“We are all here because we want justice in the country,” said Nina, 45, a foreign language teacher who gave only her first name.

Mr Putin has angered Russians who want change and fear the continuation of his rule will bring stagnation and repression.

Some 10,000 people turned out for the “test stroll”, some wearing white ribbons reading “Russia without Putin.”