Navalny protests: You'll see a lot of video/images & spin today (from both sides), a lot of it selectively edited/framed/angled. Think raw numbers of protesters (vs. size of cities) most interesting metric of support levels for the jailed opposition figure. Will keep count here.

Note that in vast majority of cities, (to varying degrees, depending on local police/political attitudes), Navalny supporters are likely to face arrest. The rallies are illegal (they have no permits & most regions have a legal ban on mass gatherings, due to the Covid pandemic)

Taking figures, where possible, from @kommersant, a respected Moscow newspaper which is slightly opposition leaning, but not virulently anti-Kremlin, by any means.

State news agencies will likely underestimate, and opposition outlets will overestimate. That's the usual pattern

In far-eastern Khabarovsk, over 200 marched. For context, city has 600,000 people & up to around 50-60,000 (Western media said 100,000) turned out in support of local governor Sergey Furgal (from far right LDPR), last summer. About 40 were arrested.

Reports that in the region of 3,000 people have gathered in Vladivostok, the pacific port city (population also circa 600,000). 10-20 detained. Vladivostok is prone to protest & is "close" to Korea & Japan, but that's a much larger number than Khabarovsk. Notable.

In Yakutsk (where it is minus 51 degrees & 311,000 live), 50 came out to back Navalny. Around 40% of them were detained. Yakutsk elected an opposition mayor a few years ago. Numbers not huge, but the weather conditions hardly conducive to hanging around outside.

Meanwhile, over in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (home to 179,000), more then 200 gathered. The police have not arrested anyone, @kommersant reports.

In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which is "not far" from Japan, 400 took part in the local pro-Navalny rally, with 10 detained. The city has 190,000 residents.

Another credible source @ru_rbc, says @kommersant's Vladivostok count is wrong (it did look a bit much), and the actual crowd was around 1,000. Not 3,000. https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/600bc2f29a7947365eec2369?from=from_main_3

Moving into Siberia, “several thousand” came out in Irkutsk, a city of 620,000 souls. Local media reports that there were no arrests and it was peaceful. https://irk.today/2021/01/23/nesankcionirovannaja-akcija-v-irkutske-23-janvarja-proshla-bez-stolknovenij/

Over in Krasnoyarsk, an important city with a population of more than 1 million, just over 1,000 took to the streets to support Navalny. Some were detained.

With 1.6 million residents, Novosibirsk is Siberia’s largest city, and a vital bell weather for interest in Navalny outside the capital. Around 4,500 protested on his behalf. Around 60 of those were detained.

Onto to the Urals, where round 1,000 have gathered to support Navalny in Izhevsk, the capital of the Udmurt Republic. No arrests reported in this city of over 600,000 people.

Down in southern Russia, in Krasnodar, where it's a balmy plus 10 degrees Celsius (and partially sunny), around 1,000 have come together on Krasnaya Street. The city has an official population of 1,000,007, but is really much higher. Don't ask where they got the seven from.

In Penza, population 520,000 which has a very fine Folk Museum, around a thousand also showed up. There have been arrests.

Kazan is a major city. The capital of Tatarstan - a majority muslim region - has about 1.2 million residents. About 500 of those have taken the streets to call for Navalny's release.

In Ekaterinburg, known as a liberal hotbed, about 3,000 have marched, according to preliminary figures. The city's ex-mayor Evgeny Roizman (a key Navalny ally) is one of them. There have been up to 7 arrests. The city's population is 1.4 million.

Let's not forget Crimea. One thing Navalny & Putin agree on is that it should remain part of Russia. 100 have rallied in Simferopol. It's reportedly passed off peacefully in the city of 340,000.

Update: Kazan crowd now estimated at 1,000. There has been arrests. https://twitter.com/27khv/status/1352948011362639872?s=20

Promised no photos, because they tend to use selective angles. But this one is very clear. @kommersant says 5,000 are taking part in Saint Petersburg (population 5.3 million) and this is an aerial image from Russia's second city, where's its +2 celsius.

Krasnodar numbers now revised upwards to 4,000. This is relatively significant, given it's both Russia's youngest city & also a United Russia stronghold. The region is well off, and has largely been immune to economic downturns over the past decade. https://twitter.com/27khv/status/1352946509805969408?s=20

In nearby, Rostov-on-Don, police blocked off the main drag (Bolshaya Sadovaya) to deter Navalny supporters but around 1,000 have ignored the blockade and are marching down the street. The city's population is 1.1 million.

Further afield, in Ulyanovsk, home to over 600,000 people, and the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin, around 2,200 loss are out to support Navalny. The biggest anti-kremlin gathering there, since 2011.

Still waiting on a credible estimate of the Moscow crowd. Authorities say 4,000 & Western news agency @Reuters claims 40,000. So, the real figure probably closer to 22,000. The city has a population of 13 million. Or around 20 million if you count the surrounding Oblast.

In Yaroslavl, a city of around 600,000, not far from Moscow, around 1,000 took part in protests, reports @kommersant.