In Astrakhan, car of activists of Russian Federation of Car Owners detained by police

A car with activists of the Russian Federation of Car Owners (RFCO), who were going to Astrakhan to support the local opposition and political activists, was detained by law enforcers.

The car of the "Civil Patrol" of the RFCO with Andrei Oryol, the coordinator of the RFCO, was detained by policemen in Astrakhan in Volodarskogo Street, the "Interfax" reports with reference to Andrei Filin, another activist of the RFCO.

According to the activist, more than 10 policemen took part in detaining the car; they claimed that the car was on the search list.

The problem was partially settled after arrival at the place of detention of the lawyer and blogger Alexei Navalny and Dmitry Gudkov, an MP from the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (SR) (Fair Russia) Party. Currently, Andrei Oryol, the coordinator of the RFCO, and the policeman, who detained him, stay in the place of detention.

Sergey Mironov, SR leader, goes to Astrakhan to support hunger-strikers

Meanwhile, Sergey Mironov, the leader of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" and the head of the Duma faction of this Party, has also left for Astrakhan to support the hunger-strikers.

On April 11, the MPs from the SR faction left the sitting of the State Duma, where Premier Putin was speaking, because he refused to answer the question about Oleg Shein's hunger strike. According to Sergey Mironov, his party fellows instructed him to return to the hall alone and speak on behalf of the faction, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

"I had, of course, a prepared speech, in which I was going to assess the government's work on behalf of our party over the past four years. However, the situation was such that, of course, I talked about different things. When today people in Astrakhan are on their hunger strike for the 27th day, and they are, unfortunately, ready to go to the end, we don't understand why you hadn't found time to get into details, as you said," Mr Mironov has stated.

He added that "over the past three years, for three times Astrakhan saw lawlessness at elections," while appeal to courts brought no results.

Meanwhile, the TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak has urged Russians to go to Astrakhan to support the hunger-striking Oleg Shein and his associates. Ms Sobchak offered to pay for tickets for those who lack money for the travel. "Dear indifferent people! People with civil position! On Friday, I fly to Astrakhan. If you want to join me and you can't afford it, I'll pay for your tickets," Ksenia wrote in hers blog on the Twitter. According to her version, "it's very important to show that we support those who are capable of such deeds for the sake of justice."