In Moscow, up to 3,000 people rallied in a square to protest the price increases, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. The demonstration ended without incident, but some of the participants moved across the city to protest outside offices of the national electricity company.
In the central city of Ulyanovsk, several people were arrested after protesters blocked a main thoroughfare in the city and massed outside the mayor's office, threatening to storm it.
Around 1,000 people reportedly took part in that rally.
In the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, around 1,500 people turned out to protest the price hikes.
(with agency reports)