Riot police fired tear gas and struck protesters with batons in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan on Wednesday after a leading local rights activist was sentenced to four years in a penal colony.
Large protests in Russia are extremely rare because of the risk of arrest — especially since the start of the war with Ukraine — at any gatherings the authorities deem unauthorized.
Clashes broke out between the police and a crowd of up to several thousand people who had gathered in support of the activist, Fail Alsynov. At a trial that was closed to the media, a court found him guilty of inciting ethnic hatred, a charge he denied.
Videos published on social media showed people fleeing from tear gas and a line of police lashing out with batons at the crowd. In one clip, a woman remonstrated with police to stop beating a person lying on the ground.
State investigators signaled they would mete out harsh punishment against those involved in the protest, saying they had launched criminal investigations into "mass disturbances" and use of violence against the authorities.
The timing is sensitive for the authorities, at the start of an election campaign in which President Vladimir Putin is seeking a new six-year term. While Putin's victory is not in doubt, analysts said there would be pressure on Bashkortostan's regional head, Radiy Khabirov, to keep the situation in hand to avoid embarrassment for the Kremlin.
Alsynov, 37, was accused of insulting migrant workers in a speech he made in April 2023 at a protest over plans to mine for gold in Bashkortostan, which is in Russia's southern Ural Mountains near the border between Europe and Asia.
His name has also been added to a list of "extremists and terrorists" by Rosfinmonitoring, an agency that is empowered to freeze people's bank accounts if they are suspected of money-laundering or financing terrorism.
Alsynov's supporters said the case against him was delayed revenge for his role in protests several years earlier in which activists successfully blocked plans to mine for soda on a hill that local people consider a sacred place.
"Huge thanks to everyone who came to support me. I will never forget this. I don't admit my guilt. I always fought for justice, for my people, for my republic," he told online media outlet RusNews after the verdict.
People in the crowd shouted "Shame!" and "We won't give up Fail!" Video footage showed protesters pelting the police with snowballs that smashed harmlessly on their riot shields.
Independent Russian-language news outlets said police made arrests, but the number was not clear.
The sizeable turnout for the protest was striking given the remoteness of the location. It took place in the small town of Baymak, where Alsynov's trial was held, about 280 kilometers (170 miles) from the regional capital Ufa and nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow.
Bashkortostan, an oil-producing region of 4.1 million people, is one of more than 80 entities that make up the Russian Federation.
Alsynov was a leader of Bashkort, a grassroots movement to preserve the culture, language and ethnic identity of the region's people. The movement was banned as an extremist organization in 2020.
