Watch: attacks on police during illegal rallies in Moscow

As a result of opposition rallies in the regions, 20 criminal cases were initiated, the bulk of which are related to the use of violence against a government official, said Svetlana Petrenko, an official representative of the Investigative Committee (IC).

As Petrenko told reporters on Tuesday, “a number of procedural checks are being carried out, following which procedural decisions will be made.”

According to her, the bulk of unlawful actions are classified under Art. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (use of violence against a government official). As part of the investigation, suspects were detained, Petrenko said.

She noted that the materials of the pre-investigation checks and criminal cases following the results of unauthorized events that took place throughout Russia on January 23, were discussed by the chairman of the IC, Alexander Bastrykin, with the heads of regional divisions at a meeting on Tuesday. According to her, the heads of the IC units in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Lipetsk and Kaluga regions, Primorye reported on the criminal cases in their proceedings.

According to her, Bastrykin pointed out “the need to identify all persons involved in the crimes committed, instructing the criminologists of the Main Directorate of Criminalistics (Criminalistic Center) of the Investigative Committee of Russia to connect.”

“Alexander Bastrykin thanked his subordinates for their active work, stressing that, along with identifying the perpetrators, it is important to carry out preventive work with young people,” Petrenko said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Yulia Ivanova, a spokesman for the Moscow head of the Investigative Committee (IC), announced the first two men detained as part of an investigation into the use of violence against police officers during a protest in Moscow.

Unauthorized rallies in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was arrested after his return to Russia, took place on Saturday in many cities of the country, including Moscow.

According to the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 4,000 people took part in the event in Moscow.

Ombudsman for human rights in the capital Tatyana Potyaeva said that more than 1,000 people were detained.

As a result of the action, the capital’s investigators opened a number of criminal cases under articles on the use of violence against a government official, destruction of property and hooliganism.