MOSCOW (AFP) - Russians should avoid attending the protest against the rule of Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the weekend to protect their health amid a spell of cold weather, the country's chief doctor said on Thursday.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to rally for a march in the Russian capital on Saturday in the third mass protest challenging Putin ahead of next month's presidential elections.
'The forecast for Saturday is extremely unfavourable with temperatures of minus 18 deg C predicted. This is a very low temperature for Moscow,' said Dr Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief sanitary doctor.
'If this forecast is true then I categorically advise people not to take part in these protests,' Dr Onishchenko, who is also the head of Russia's consumer protection watchdog, told the Interfax news agency.
