Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Monday that the president’s administration had recommended that governors organize rallies on April 8 in a show of defiance after a suspected terrorist attack killed 14 people in the St. Petersburg metro earlier that day.
"The Kremlin does not organize rallies … I know nothing about any kind of signals from the Kremlin," Peskov said, adding "it’s news to me there could have been signals."
The paper claimed lawmakers from across the political spectrum were expected to join demonstrations.
Sources in the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, told Sputnik they had not received any instructions but were ready to join out of solidarity if a rally took place.
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the suspected terrorist attack in the metro but is also following other leads. Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen Akbarzhon Jalilov has been named as the chief suspect behind the attack. His home has been searched, according to the committee's spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.
