Moscow police said more than 70,000 have gathered on Manezh Square near the Moscow Kremlin for a rally to support presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, who is likely to win the elections in the first round.
Putin won close to 63.5 percent of the vote so far as ballots continue to be counted. Putin's nearest rival, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, took 17.2 percent, state pollster VTsIOM said. No other candidate has so far gained more than 10 percent.
Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the prime minister will arrive at the rally of his supporters later.
Police said they had to block traffic on neighboring streets as Manezh Square could not place everyone willing to express their support for the presidential forerunner. Some 15,000 people were supposed to take part in the rally.
Some of the demonstrators are holding Russian tricolor flags and monarchist white-yellow-black banners while popular singers are entertaining Putin’s supporters.
Special screens were installed on the square to show them the latest election results.
A RIA Novosti correspondent spotted many tour buses and police buses parked near Manezh Square, the Bolshoi Theater and on nearby streets.
He said that people of all ages were flocking to Manezh Square, adding that not all of them looked enthusiastic.
Some rally participants told RIA Novosti’s correspondent that they came to Manezh Square to have fun at a concert and had no idea it was a Putin support rally.
Others confirmed they voted for Putin.
One of them, 29-year old Yevgeny Fyodorov from Orenburg told RIA Novosti that he did not believe there were any falsifications.
"This is a rally for fair elections,” he said. “We should be happy that we live under a strong and capable leadership.”
Pavel Marov, 22, said he did not vote today.
"I just came to see this ridiculous sight. These people are fooled into thinking we have a democracy," he said.
Smaller rallies are also planned in other parts of the capital on Sunday evening.
