A young violinist's lonely mission to pressure Russia on climate change

FILE PHOTO: Climate activist Arshak Makichyan holds a cardboard reading "Strike for Climate" during a single-person demonstration in central Moscow, Russia February 7, 2020. Picture taken February 7, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The young violinist holding a sign reading "Strike for Climate" on a Moscow square didn't have long to wait for the police to arrive. His one-man protest lasted just 30 minutes before he was detained this summer for the second Friday in a row.

The city's COVID-19 lockdown is now over but protests remain illegal, presenting a new challenge for Arshak Makichyan's mission to build a movement from scratch to pressure the government of the world's fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter.