Russian police arrested more than 800 people and quickly broke up a demonstration on August 3, apparently randomly attacking peaceful protesters as well as many innocent passersby.

Demonstrators gathered at several points in central Moscow in a light drizzle to continue their weekly protests against the exclusion of opposition leaders from the Moscow City Council elections slated for September 8.

It is unclear exactly how many people took to the streets. Police claim that only 1,500 turned up, down on the 10,000 that gathered the previous weekend, sparking a brutal clubbing from Russia’s notorious OMON riot police. Unofficial estimates ranged from 5,000 up to 10,000 but the consensus was at the lower end of the range and that the turnout was less than at the July 27 demonstration.

Nearly all the opposition leaders were absent, as police have arrested all of them, including anti-corruption blogger and opposition activist Alexei Navalny and Ilya Yashin, who have been given 30-day prison sentences for organising unsanctioned rallies.

The one opposition leader that was still at liberty ahead of the August 3 protest was Russian lawyer Lyubov Sobol, but not for long: she was arrested as she left her apartment and also spent the day in a prison cell.

The opposition has been galvanised by the police brutality but this is not enough to push the population to the point where it is willing to face down the police batons. Yashin laid out plans to build a democratic union to bne IntelliNews in an interview, but internecine fighting and Kremlin subterfuges have effectively undermined the opposition efforts. The movement still lacks grassroots support and an effective political machine to get large numbers of people on to the street. The population remains reluctant to protest for purely political demands, although large numbers will go to the streets over local issues such as parks and landfills.

Russia watchers were taken aback by the brutal way that the police broke up the July 27 protests, and believe that President Vladimir Putin was deliberately sending a message to would-be protestors: if you come you will be beaten, or worse.

And the tactic seems to have worked as the numbers fell, although bad weather may also have pushed attendance down.

Social media was full of video footage of police randomly attacking protestors who were universally peaceful. There was no stone-throwing, acts of vandalism or any sort of aggression against the police, who were out in large numbers dressed in full riot gear.

In one incident a man standing quietly on Pushkin Square holding a Russian flag was suddenly targeted and dragged off by police. In another an old woman was picked out from the crowd and shoved into a Black Maria. “But I’m 70 years old,” she said as she was taken away. “I’m your mother!” she added, turning an earlier announcement by police over the tannoy on its head: “Please disburse. Most of these police are conscripts. They are your sons!”

Olga Misik was at this protest too. The 17-year-old schoolgirl has attended the last few protests and brings with her a copy of the Russian constitution that she reads to the riot police. Article 31 guarantees the right of peaceful public assembly.

One of the most widely shared videos showed a group of OMON beating a cyclist repeatedly on the legs, trying to disengage him from his bike. Eventually they simply carried him away upside down still wrapped around his bike. Footage of the lead-up to the incident showed him peacefully bicycling along watching the events. Unprovoked a group of policemen suddenly turn on him, knocking him to the ground.

Clearly the police had been given orders to harass the protestors and randomly arrest people. These are terror tactics designed to repress future protests. Like the previous weekend, the majority of the detainees were released a few hours later, while others were to be held overnight and given the minimum fine for participating in an unsanctioned protest of RUB10,000 ($155). However, a few have been charged with causing civil unrest and they face prison terms of several years. The state is clearly making a few examples to highlight that there is a risk of long prison sentences. They obviously hope to dissuade other would-be protestors.

The intentional use of brute force was highlighted by the appearance of Sergei Kusyuk as one of the commanders of the OMON. He is better known as the commander of the notorious Berkut riot police in Ukraine. Kusyuk ordered the beating of students in Kyiv on November 30, 2013, prompting the EuroMaidan protests.

The opposition intend to continue their demonstrations and have received permission to assemble next weekend on August 10 and 11. Again, the numbers that turn out will be key, as the opposition need a large crowd to force the Kremlin’s hand. But following another weekend of repression and beatings, it appears unlikely that more than a hardcore minority will turn out, as the Kremlin’s terror tactics seem to be working.