Thousands of Russians tired of eroding freedoms and corruption gathered in a square in Moscow to denounce the Presidency of Vladimir Putin.

The highlight was the address by lawyer Alexei Navalny, who is on trial on what supporters call trumped up corruption charges.

“Putin is a thief,” Navalny told the cheering crowd, “We will throw him out of the Kremlin.”

“I will never surrender and I will never go away.  I am fighting for a new future for my family, for my children and so are you,” he said.

Opposition leaders say more than 27 thousand people came to this rally that some expected would fizzle out.  It didn’t.  Although the crowd's mood was pessimistic, dissatisfaction with Putin is not waning.  Police downplayed the crowd at 8 thousand.

This rally was held on the anniversary of a raucous anti-Putin rally in which the cops cracked down hard on protesters. 

The long-awaited protest was, however, clouded by the death of a worker who was crushed by a massive loudspeaker as he was helping to erect the stage for the event.