Russia's police officers lining up at Pushkin square ahead of opposition rally

The Russian capital prepared on Tuesday for a large opposition rally - dubbed as "The March of Millions".Scores of police officers were lining up from early in the morning at Pushkin square, where the rally is due to take place.Policemen could be seen carrying metal barriers to the area of the square from early in the morning, while security forces were connecting metal detectors to be used ahead of the protest.

Russian investigators have searched the apartments of several protest leaders and called them in for questioning on Tuesday, making it difficult if not impossible for them to lead a mass demonstration against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin has taken a harder line against the opposition since returning to the presidency in May, seemingly no longer willing to tolerate the peaceful protests that drew tens of thousands of people onto the streets of Moscow ahead of the March election that handed him a third term.

A measure Putin signed into law on Friday will raise fines on those who take part in unauthorized protests 150-fold, to nearly the average annual salary in Russia.Tuesday's protest has city approval, but any actions that violate the agreed upon location and time-frame could give police a pretext to make arrests.

Opposition activists predict the government crackdown on dissent and the anger it has fueled will bring out more protesters on Tuesday, a patriotic holiday called Russia Day.

The holiday marks the day in 1990 when Russian lawmakers declared independence from the Soviet Union by giving supremacy to Russian laws over Soviet legislation.

The Kremlin, however, appears to be betting that the tough measures will frighten away the young white-collar professionals whose new political activism has posed the first serious challenge to Putin since he came to power in 2000.The last big rally was held by Russian opposition on May sixth, a day before Vladimir Putin's inauguration which marked his return to power.It ended up in violent clashes between protesters and police.

There are fears that violence can erupt on today's rally as well.Nationalists are also taking part in the rally.If the demonstration ends peacefully and as planned, police should have no cause to intervene.

But if some of the protesters set off on a new march, as some have suggested they may do if the opposition leaders are still being held for questioning, police would have the right to make arrests and the penalties would be harsh.

The opposition has also warned of the dangers of provocations by pro-Kremlin forces hoping to set off clashes between protesters and police.

APTN