The courageous Russian patriots of Oborona are picketing the federal authorities, calling for the release of arrested Yabloko party opposition leader Maxim Reznick. "Yabloko" resembles the Russian word for "apple" so one of the protesters holds up an apple in defiance.

That protester is Liza Klepikova. Oborona's website reports that on March 19th Klepikova (a Russian language blogger) was on picket duty for Reznick when she was confronted by "policemen" who warned her that there were dangerous characters in the area and she shouldn't picket alone. Soon a group of young thugs appeared and attacked Liza, pushing her to the ground and trying to rip the poster out of her hands as she stood in front of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. None of the law enforcement personnel lifted a finger to protect her or to pursue the attackers.