About 10,000 people marched across the city from the former October Square to Lubyanka Square, site of the former headquarters of the KGB secret police, waving red flags. Many protesters were elderly and poor, and their common refrain was that President Boris Yeltsin was to blame for the loss of Soviet-era stability and the country's economic collapse.

The march provided a photo opportunity for Russia's Communist Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov, seven weeks before parliamentary elections. Polls indicate that the Communist Party will maintain a strong presence in the new parliament.