Vladimir Putin the Russian opposition and by international observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for procedural irregularities. Anti-Putin protests took place during and directly after the presidential campaign. The most notorious protest was the Pussy Riot performance on 21 February, and subsequent trial. An estimated 8,000–20,000 protesters gathered in Moscow on 6 May, when eighty people were injured in confrontations with police, and 450 were arrested, with another 120 arrests taking place the following day. A counter-protest of Putin supporters occurred which culminated in a gathering of an estimated 130,000 supporters at the Luzhniki Stadium, Russia's largest stadium.
2012 Russian presidential election 2012 Russian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Russia on 4 March 2012. There were five officially registered candidates; four representatives of registered parties and one independent. These election were the first after the constitutional amendments in 2008. In this election, the President was elected for the first time for six years, not four as before. At the United Russia congress in Moscow on 24 September 2011, President Dmitry Medvedev proposed that his predecessor, Vladimir Putin stand for the presidency in 2012, an offer which Putin accepted. Putin immediately offered Medvedev the opportunity stand on the United Russia ticket