Thousands brave icy chill to protest in Moscow Thousands brave icy chill to protest in Moscow - Russia Russia 'Frozen fury': Thousands brave icy chill to protest in Moscow 'Real Russian patriots should stay at home and make babies... not loiter at demonstrations,' Russia's deputy prime minister says amid continuing anger over disputed elections Thousands of people marched in Russian capital Moscow Saturday in a pro-democracy protest over the power of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to reports. BBC News said people were taking part in the "For Honest Elections" rally despite expected temperatures as low as minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit. The main thing is for people not to catch pneumonia ... Three hours in the cold is a serious thing," Boris Nemtsov, a liberal politician and protest organizer, told the BBC. "I have the feeling that every degree colder it gets, we lose 5,000 people," he added, according to Reuters. The broadcaster said Kaluzhskaya Square was filling up with people midday Saturday. Many carried white balloons, the color adopted by the movement. Anti-Putin protesters: Coping with big questions, bitter cold Russia Today reported that organizers were expecting about 50,000 people to take part in the event, which it summed up with the headline "Frozen fury." It said there were due to be rallies at Bolotnaya Square and Pushkinskaya Square. Demand for election re-run Russia Today also said supporters of the pro-government Patriots of Russia movement were gathering on Poklonnaya Hill Saturday to "protest against the so-called Orange moods in the country and show people we have a lot to lose." The color orange was used in neighboring Ukraine during anti-government political protests in 2004 and 2005. Kremlin's photo-doctoring misfires big time Russia Today reported Putin had voiced his support for them. The people heading to Poklonnaya Hill are going there to state their sincere anti-Orange position. I am grateful to them and I share their views," he told Interfax news agency. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin had some different advice. Europe tries to shield homeless from deadly freeze "Real Russian patriots should stay at home and make babies... not loiter at demonstrations," he was quoted as saying by state RIA news agency. Galvanized by widespread allegations that Putin's party cheated at December parliamentary polls, tens of thousands of Russians marched in rallies in Moscow on Dec. 10 and Dec. 24. Protesters want a re-run of the polls, a probe into allegations of voting fraud, electoral reforms and the release jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky among others the opposition call political prisoners. Saturday's demonstration will test the opposition's ability to keep up pressure on Putin, set for all-but certain victory in a presidential election on March 4, to meet their main demands. Protesters traded advice on social networking sites on how best to stay warm, and one posted photographs posing in the snow in a turquoise bikini holding the sign: "The cold isn't scary." Putin has promised token political reforms and has mocked the demonstrators, saying they lack leadership and goals and comparing the white ribbon symbol of the protests to condoms. He has also suggested protest are funded by foreign governments, a claim the opposition denies. Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report. More from Russia