The Associated Press reports that nearly 500 people were detained during Tuesday's action, including at least 250 in downtown Moscow, where city police claimed, in the words of the news wire, that "flare-type fireworks were thrown at a group of pro-Kremlin youth."

Russian media reported that another 200 or so protesters were arrested at a similarly unsanctioned rally in St. Petersburg and another 25 protesters were detained in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. These incidents bring the total number of arrests since Sunday's parliamentary elections to nearly 800.

Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m.: Thousand of Russian police and government troops are reportedly patrolling Moscow on Tuesday, one day after anti-Vladimir Putin demonstrators held one of the largest opposition rallies in the city in years and two days after Putin's party took a serious hit in the latest parliamentary elections.