Eight people were arrested in the Siberian republic of Altai on Thursday for staging a protest against reforms initiated by Kremlin-installed head Andrei Turchak.

Protesters blocked off a part of the Chuya Highway, a key road artery, with large banners that called on President Vladimir Putin to dismiss Turchak and recently appointed government chairman Alexander Prokopyev.

The activists condemned Turchak’s plans for scrapping the two-tier system of local self-government, which he announced amid growing fears of a possible merger of the republic and the neighboring Altai region into a single federal subject.

While no arrests were made at the protest site, security forces arrested participants at their homes later in the day, according to local media reports.

Participants were charged with organizing and participating in an unsanctioned public gathering, according to the local prosecutor’s office. The offense is punishable by up to 15 days of administrative arrest.