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Tens of thousands of Russians staged a peaceful protest on Saturday against alleged fraud in the Dec 4 parliamentary elections.

The Moscow rally, the biggest demonstration of the nationwide wave of protests across Russia, took place in Bolotnaya Square, across the Moskva River from the Kremlin.

The city's authorities originally gave permission for a 30,000- strong rally in the much smaller downtown Revolution Square, but later changed the venue.

Rally organizers claimed that about 40,000 people had gathered at the square and 10,000 others joined later by marching from Revolution Square. But according to the Interior Ministry, there were some 25,000 protesters in Moscow.

One hour before the rally began, many protesters already started to pass police security checks and entered the square, holding flags and banners reading "Call for fair elections" and "We demand vote recount".

Big protests were also held on Saturday in some 20 other cities of Russia, from the far eastern city of Vladivostok to the westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, according to local media.

Massive opposition protests against the alleged vote fraud in favor of United Russia took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg following the Dec 4 elections, in which United Russia gained 238 out of 450 seats in the new State Duma.

Questions:

1. When was the parliamentary election?

2. How many people gathered on the Square according to rally organizers?

3. How many seats did United Russia gain?

Answers:

1. Dec 4

2. 40,000

3. 238

（中国日报网英语点津 Rosy 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.