A crowd estimated at more than 10,000 attended a protest in Moscow that was called by the Communist Party. A similarly large crowd gathered in Yekaterinburg to protest and demonstrations also were reported Saturday in large cities including Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd. No arrests were immediately reported.

Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, has given its first-reading approval to a measure that would gradually raise the pension ages from 60 to 65 for men and from 55 to 63 for women.

Protesters have called for a national referendum to be held on the issue before the parliament considers further readings of the bill after it resumes in September.

The proposal to raise the pension ages was put forth by the Cabinet on the eve of the opening of the World Cup in Russia last month and many opponents accused the government of trying to slip it past citizens distracted by the global soccer tournament. But protests broke out and dismay with the retirement changes appears to be growing.