Russia kept a close eye of Kazakhstan embassy to make sure that Russian opposition rally doesn't not threaten its security over the famous OccupyAbai campaign that became part of the rally, Tengrinews.kz reports citing official representative of Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry Altai Abibullayev.

“There is an international rule. There is the Vienne Convention on Diplomatic Relations dated 1961. The host party, no matter whether it is Russia or any other country, must ensure security and normal operation of embassies. In this case Russian party is taking all the necessary measures to provide security and functionality of our (Kazakhstan) diplomatic representative office in Moscow,” Altai Abibullayev said at the briefing on May 14.

Abai became popular in Russia and #OccupyAbai was among the top ranking hash-tags in Twitter for several day thanks to Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalnyi who set up a meeting with his followers next to Abai Kunanbayev’s monument in Moscow that he called "a monument to some unknown Kazakh". This spurred a wave of indignation among ethnic Kazakhs who highly esteem Abai. This also brought Abai's poetry into the top 10 AppStore downloads.

Abai’s monument in Moscow is a gift of Kazakhstan to Russian capital. Its opening ceremony was held on April 6, 2006 and attended by Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Vladimir Putin.

Abai (Abay) Kunanbayev (1845 – 1904) was a great Kazakh poet, composer and philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer who worked on integrating Kazakh culture with European and Russian cultures.

On Wednesday, May 16, Moscow authorities broke up the week-long OccupyAbai protest in Moscow following Vladimir Putin's inauguration as President of the Russian Federation for the third term, AFP reports.

Sweepers had already cleared the scenic square by the time commuters rushed past to the nearby metro station while activists were debating where next to stage the first sit-in since former spy Putin's domination began in 1999.

"They put up no resistance. Everything passed off fairly peacefully," deputy district police chief Yury Zdorenko said in televised comments. "Everything happened in accordance with the spirit of the law." He said the police had made 23 arrests.

The sit-in referred to itself as "Occupy Abay" -- a reference to the looming bronze statue of 19th century Kazakh poet Abay Kunanbayuli around which the protesters gathered in a leafy boulevard in the upscale Chistye Prudy district.

"The morning dispersal was illegal and here is the proof," liberal Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin wrote in a blog on the Moscow Echo radio station website next to a copy of his own letter to the court.

Prominent activist Ilya Yashin said some of the activists had moved to a square that sits under a famous Stalin-era skyscraper near the Moscow zoo.

"Come and join us. Things are fun here," Yashin tweeted to his supporters.

Ilya Yashin, a leader of the opposition group Solidarnost, said the activists would try to occupy another area in central Moscow, near the seat of the government.

But municipal authorities said no camps would be allowed here.

Activists unhappy with Putin's presidential return after a four-year stint as prime minister have been increasingly resorting to creative forms of protest that slip through legal loopholes and do not require formal city sanction.

More than 10,000 Russians of all ages joined a peaceful stroll through a neighbourhood near Chistye Prudy on Saturday in a clear bid to test the limits of the law.

Moscow painters have voiced plans to conduct a similar stroll over the weekend.