(Max Trudo, Creative Commons)

Despite the sub-zero temperatures, Russians participated in a third mass demonstration “since Putin's party won a parliamentary election Dec. 4 with the help of what appeared to be widespread fraud,” the AP reports. The protestors have demanded a repeat election, a demand Putin has ignored.

According to the New York Times:

“A series of similar actions in December shocked the Russian establishment with their size and giddy, infectious mood, as a famously passive part of the electorate coalesced into huge crowds that chanted ‘Putin, go away’ and ‘We exist.’ But the momentum seemed to dissipate in January, as opposition factions squabbled and Mr. Putin’s victory in the March 4 election began to appear imminent and certain.”

Yet, the crowd in Moscow Saturday proved larger than either of the December demonstrations.

Marat Yafyasov, a lawyer who joined the protest after traveling 150 miles to Moscow, commented, “We are not sheep or cattle. We deserve respect…We are out in the cold because we can't let this moment go, we have to keep the protest going.”

The protestors marched to a square near the Kremlin to hold their rally, accompanied by thousands of police who monitored the protest.

The AP reports:

“The rally ended with the call of ‘Not a Single Vote for Putin’ and demands for legal reforms that would open the way for fair political competition and for new parliamentary and presidential elections. The protesters also demanded the release of political prisoners and punishment for those involved in the vote-rigging.”

Sergei Berkovich, one among the thousands of demonstrators, commented:

“We’ve begun to have pride in ourselves again…I think people have woken up, and I hope it will continue. I think this is the last chance for our country. If we don’t use this chance, our country will cease to exist as it does today.”

Reach Executive Producer Cara Palmer here or follow her on Twitter.