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Police broke up a peaceful demonstration in Moscow on Sunday.

Alexander Utkin / AFP / Getty Images

Russian police in riot gear arrested a leading opposition leader and hundreds of protestors on Sunday in Moscow, as the biggest protests Russia has seen in years bloomed in cities across the country.

Hours after this crackdown on what appeared to be largely peaceful gatherings, the Trump administration did not issue any statements about the arrests.

Alexei Navalny, one of Russia's most prominent critics of President Vladimir Putin, organized the gatherings to raise pressure on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. In March, Navalny accused Medvedev of accepting bribes that he used to purchase mansions and yachts.

Russian authorities, however, called these gatherings unauthorized and moved to disperse the crowd of thousands in Moscow's Pushkin Square.

Neither the White House, State Department, or the US Embassy in Moscow had issued any statements by Sunday afternoon. As of 2 p.m. Eastern time, a State Department spokesperson was unable to provide any statements, or say if one was expected.

President Donald Trump has called for warming relations with Russia and more cooperation on counter-terrorism. In a February TV interview, Trump said he respects Putin and declined to criticize Russia's human rights record, explaining: “What do you think? Our country's so innocent?”

In a tweet sent after his arrest, Navalny encouraged the protesters to continue. “Guys, I'm fine. No need to fight to get me out. Walk along Tverskaya [Moscow main street]. Our topic of the day is the fight against corruption,” he tweeted, according to the BBC.

The BBC reported as many as 130 protesters in Moscow were arrested, but other journalists reported estimates of 700 in Moscow alone.

A Sunday protest in St. Petersburg also attracted big crowds.

This weekend also saw protests in Belarus, a country on Russia's western border. Authorities in Minsk on Saturday arrested as many as 400 people protesting tax on the unemployed. In response, the US Embassy in Minsk issued a statement of “deep concern” for the arrests.

“The authorities’ large-scale detention of peaceful protesters, human rights observers and journalists infringes upon basic democratic values,” the statement said, and called on authorities to “immediately release all remaining peaceful protesters, human rights advocates, and journalists.”

A protester gestures from a police bus after being detained at a Moscow protest.

Alexander Utkin / AFP / Getty Images

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