Russians have held rallies throughout the country to protest against a government plan to raise the age for receiving state pensions.

Several thousand people gathered in central Moscow for a protest organised by the Communist Party.

Another Moscow protest organised by the A Just Russia party attracted about 1,500 people.

Other demonstrations were reported in at least a dozen cities throughout the country, including Vladivostok in the far east, Simferopol in Russia-annexed Crimea and Omsk, Barnaul and Novosibirsk in Siberia.

A girl holds a banner reading "No to the raise! I'm against!" during the Communist Party rally protesting against retirement age hikes in Moscow
A girl holds a banner reading ‘No to the raise! I’m against!’ (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

No arrests were immediately reported. The rallies had official sanction.

The plan was introduced in June and has passed first reading in the lower house of parliament.

But widespread opposition has persisted and President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings have fallen notably since the plan was announced.

In an unusual televised address to the nation, Mr Putin last week conceded that the pension age for women will be raised only to 60 rather than the proposed 63.

The current pension age for women is 55.

The plan would retain the raising of the men’s pension age from 60 to 65, implementing the steps up over five years.

People attend the Communist Party rally protesting against retirement age hikes in Moscow
People attend the Communist Party rally in Moscow (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

The plan has attracted opposition from a notably wide range of age groups and political beliefs.

Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption activist and Putin foe who has built his movement on relatively young and well-educated urbanites, has called for his supporters to rally nationwide next Sunday.

People appearing to be in their twenties and thirties made up a large part of the Communist-called rally in Moscow.

Younger opponents of the move fear that keeping older people in the workforce longer will shrink their own job opportunities, while older people complain that they may not live long enough to collect significant benefits.

Russia’s average life expectancy was notoriously low in the 1990s, but has risen in recent years and is now about 67 for men and 78 for women.

A man holds in his mouth a banner reading "An all-Russian protest against pension reform" during the Communist Party rally in Moscow
A man holds in his mouth a banner reading ‘An all-Russian protest against pension reform’ (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

Proponents of the pension age rise say that rising life expectancies would overburden pension resources if the eligibility is not adjusted.

The pension reform was announced in June on the eve of the opening of the Russia-hosted football World Cup and many critics saw the timing as an attempt to introduce a controversial idea while Russians were distracted by the tournament’s excitement.

But Mr Putin’s polling numbers dropped significantly.

A weekly survey by the Fund For Public Opinion found 61% saying they fully or mostly trusted Mr Putin in mid-August, down from 75% just before the pension reform proposal.