More than 80 people arrested in Russian Federation pension protests

Navalny has called for nationwide protests on September 9 against a much-reviled government proposal to raise retirement ages.

Supporters of Alexei Navalny, the leader of the liberal Russian Federation of the Future party, were quick to slam the US-based multinational company for what they described as a surrender in the face of illegal demands made by the administration of President Vladimir Putin, Efe news reported.

He had planned to lead a protest in Moscow on Sunday, but a court last month convicted him of breaking protest laws and jailed him for 30 days.

A senior Moscow police official said that around 100 people were arrested in Russia's capital and St. Petersburg, where the biggest demonstrations, which had been denied an official permit, took place. Footage of a rally in Ulan-Ude, some 4,400 km (2734 miles) east of Moscow, showed protesters walking through the city holding red balloons escorted by the police.

"All that time they assured us there would not in any circumstance be a rise in the pension age".

In Moscow, where the authorities had rejected an application from Navalny's supporters to protest, around 2,000 people gathered in the central Pushkin Square, the authorities and Reuters reporters estimated.

The pension reform law, passed by the Duma in July, will see the working age eventually extended by five years - to 65 for men, and 60 for women. Average life expectancy for men is 66 and for women 77.

Putin makes a point of never mentioning Navalny by name but has suggested he is Washington's pick for the Russian presidency. Vladimir Chernikov, the head of Moscow region security, said that the demonstrators "failed to cause a provocation" but "spoiled the mood" of residents celebrating the annual City Day weekend.

Navalny aide Leonid Volkov maintained that YouTube pulled the videos based on an illegal complaint letter from the country's election commission, not a full-fledged order.

"The corporate lawyers at Google simply don't understand that there can be situations - like the current one - and countries - like Russian Federation - in which the demands of the authorities are often illegal", Volkov wrote.