VLADIVOSTOK. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Two people who participated in an unsanctioned rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Vladivostok city on Saturday are facing criminal charges of assaulting police officers.
"During foiling of an unsanctioned demonstration in Svetlanskaya street in the city of Vladivostok on January 23, two facts were established of the use of violence against representatives of the law (...) Relevant criminal inquiries have been launched," the Russian Investigative Committee said on its website.
The assault on an on-duty law enforcement officer is a criminal offense.
According to the inquiry, a 28-year-old local resident "grabbed the commander of the second platoon of the fourth company of riot police of the National Guard directorate for Primorsky Territory by the neck and attempted to force him onto the ground and punched him in the head and body at least twice."
The suspect has been apprehended.
The second assailant is on the run.
Around 500 people held an unsanctioned protest in Vladivostok on Saturday, local authorities said. They were blocking traffic on the central Svetlanskaya Street.