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MOSCOW - Tens of thousands of Russians took to the streets in Moscow on Saturday shouting "Putin is a thief" and "Russia without Putin" in the largest anti-government protests that post-Soviet Russia has ever seen.

The crowd overflowed from a central city square, forcing stragglers to climb trees or watch from the opposite riverbank. "We exist!" they chanted. "We exist!" Opposition leaders understood that for a moment they, not the Kremlin, were dictating the political agenda, and seemed intent on leveraging it, promising to gather an even larger crowd again on Dec. 24.

Saturday's rally served to build their confidence as it united liberals, nationalists and Communists and forced the Kremlin to confront a level of public discontent that has not been seen here since Vladimir Putin first became president 12 years ago.

The event was too large to be edited out of the evening news, which does not ordinarily report on criticism of Putin. And it was accompanied by dozens of rallies in 60 cities across Russia's nine time zones, represented by the entire political spectrum -- except the ruling United Russia party.

The protests certainly complicate Putin's own campaign to return to the presidency. He is by far the country's most popular political figure, but he no longer appears untouchable and will have to engage with his critics, something he has done only rarely and grudgingly.

In Moscow, the police estimated the crowd at 25,000, although organizers made claims ranging from more than twice that to more than 100,000. The government calculated that it had no choice but to allow the events to unfold and granted a license for 30,000 to gather.

By the end of the demonstration, change had already begun. There was a large police presence, including helicopters, troop carriers, dump trucks and bulldozers, but they took no action when the crowd appeared to far exceed that allowed. Just as striking, police allowed a separate unauthorized protest to take place in Revolution Square. And remarkably when the crowd dispersed four hours later, no detentions were reported at the scene -- unlike earlier in the week.

'This country is not lost'

Older participants were reminded of the oceans of demonstrators who marched on the Kremlin in the early 1990s, heralding the collapse of the Soviet Union. Younger protesters -- so digitally connected that they broadcast the event live by holding iPads over their heads -- said this was a day when a group that had been silent made itself heard.

Calls for protest have been mounting since parliamentary elections last Sunday, which domestic and international observers said were tainted by ballot-stuffing and fraud on behalf of Putin's party, United Russia. But an equally crucial event, many said, was Putin's announcement in September that he would run for the presidency in March. He is almost certain to win a six-year term, meaning he will have been Russia's paramount leader for 18 years.

Yevgeniya Albats, editor of the New Times, a magazine often critical of the government, said the gathering was the most striking display of grass-roots democracy she had seen in Russia, and that the involvement of young people was a game-changer. "Today we just proved that civil society does exist in Russia, that the middle class does exist and that this country is not lost," Albats said.

The authorities had been trying to discourage attendance, saying that widespread protests could prove as destabilizing as the Soviet collapse, which occurred 20 years ago this month.

Putin last week said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had set off the wave of activism by publicly criticizing the conduct of the parliamentary elections. Protesters laughed at this notion. One speaker asked the crowd, "Are we here because Hillary Clinton texted us?"

Humor mixed in

There were notes of humor about vote tampering, like a sign that said "146 percent of Muscovites are for free elections!" At metal detectors was a pile of chocolate bars protesters brought for the police. A photographer circulated photos of a riot police officer holding a white flower, a symbol of the protest, behind his back.

The protest's organizers have made several demands: the release of protesters arrested last week; the scheduling of new parliamentary elections; the ouster of Vladimir Churov, who runs the Central Election Commission; an investigation of election violations; and the registration of non-system opposition parties. But it seems unlikely that the authorities will accede to the protesters' demands.

Demonstrator after demonstrator said the change would take years. But they come to the square Saturday and presented themselves in numbers that could not be ignored. "I love the way all these people have come out," said Artyom Zhilin, 36, a psychotherapist. "There is hope."

The Washington Post and AP contributed to this report.