A member of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Stal (Steel) wearing a Darth Vader mask participates in a rally in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he's satisfied with the performance of his party in Russia's parliamentary election even though it lost a significant number of seats, adding that a drop in support is "inevitable" for any ruling party. The statement came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton again criticized the election. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
A member of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Stal (Steel) wearing a Darth Vader mask participates in a rally in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he's satisfied with the performance of his party in Russia's parliamentary election even though it lost a significant number of seats, adding that a drop in support is "inevitable" for any ruling party. The statement came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton again criticized the election. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
Russian police block a road to prevent opposition rallies against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election, as the monument of the heroes of the Revolution of 1905 is seen in the background, in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian police gather to prevent an opposition rally against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in an apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Opposition leader Ilya Yashin is escorted by police from a court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Yashin was sentenced Tuesday to a 15-day arrest for disobeying police after he was detained Monday along with some 300 protesters who rallied against what they called vote rigging during Sunday's parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Red lights of police cars are reflected on the wet asphalt where police officers block the road after a political rally in downtown Moscow, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Several thousand people have protested in Moscow against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election that observers said was rigged. A group of several hundred then marched toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, but were stopped by riot police and taken away in buses. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
MOSCOW (AP) ? Police clashed with demonstrators protesting vote fraud in Moscow and at least two other major Russian cities Tuesday, as anger boiled over against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his ruling United Russia party.
At least 250 people were detained by police at a protest in downtown Moscow, where flare-type fireworks were thrown at a group of pro-Kremlin youth, said city police spokesman Maxim Kolosvetov.
Russian news agencies reported about 200 were arrested at a similar attempt to hold an unsanctioned rally in St. Petersburg and another 25 protesters were arrested in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
It was the second consecutive night of large protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, an unusually sustained show of indignation that came after widespread reports of vote fraud in Sunday's parliamentary election. Russian police routinely crack down hard on unauthorized rallies and protesters generally take time to regroup for a new attempt.
According to preliminary results,Putin's dominant United Russia party lost a large share of the seats it had held in the State Duma but still kept a majority of seats.
Opponents say even that reduced presence came because of vote fraud. Local and international election observers reported widespread ballot-stuffing and irregularities in the vote count.
The protesters appear to be both angered by the reported fraud and energized by the vote's show of declining support for Putin and his party, which have strongly overshadowed all other political forces in Russia for a dozen years.
But pro-Kremlin supporters also put on two large rallies in Moscow, attracting thousands and showing vehement divisions in Russian society.
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