Putin says guards 'fulfilling duty' in protest crackdown

• "They are fulfilling their duty," Putin told state news agency TASS in an interview.
• "No one is pummelling someone with a baton just like that. If people act according to the existing rules, procedures and laws, who will brandish a baton?"

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday defended a controversial national guard force for breaking up recent opposition rallies, insisting the use of force against protesters is justified.

His comments came after activists accused the national guard -- a domestic military force founded in 2016 that reports directly to Putin -- of using brutal tactics in putting down protests last year.

"They are fulfilling their duty," Putin told state news agency TASS in an interview.

"No one is pummelling someone with a baton just like that. If people act according to the existing rules, procedures and laws, who will brandish a baton?"

Tens of thousands of people took to the street of Moscow last year to demand fair elections, in the biggest upsurge of protests in the country for over half a decade.

Police and the national guard violently broke up unsanctioned but largely peaceful rallies while a number of people were convicted of using violence against police and received jail terms.

His comments came as Putin's opponents are on Saturday preparing to hold their first major rally since he announced plans in January for constitutional changes that critics fear will help him remain in power indefinitely.

Putin also defended a heavy jail term for blogger Vladislav Sinitsa who was sentenced to five years in prison for a controversial tweet after the protests.

"One may disrupt the situation in the country so much (but) there'll be a price to pay," Putin said. "It is not a joke."

Supporters said Sinitsa -- who had imagined a situation in which people found the homes of law enforcement officers to kidnap and kill their children -- did not call for violence and his words were taken out of context.

Russia established the national guard to fight organised crime and terrorism. But critics say its main role is to punish dissenters after the Kremlin was shaken by unprecedented protests in 2011-2012.

In the TASS interview, Putin also praised last year's unprecedented public campaign which won the release of journalist Ivan Golunov, who was arrested on trumped-up drugs charges over his investigative work.

"People's intervention today... in modern Russia matters," Putin said.

Last month, investigators detained five former police officers as part of a probe into Golunov's arrest.