KavkazCenter :: Russia

On the photo: The meeting of putinist government workers in Moscow

The New York Times Moscow correspondents Ellen Barry and Andrew Kramer report on new developments of the revolutionary situation in Russia. They note in particular:

"Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters marched on Saturday through a city gripped by bitter, Arctic cold, in a third major effort by Russians opposed to Vladimir V. Putin's return to the presidency.

A series of similar actions in December shocked the Russian establishment with their size and giddy, infectious mood, as a famously passive part of the electorate coalesced into huge crowds that chanted "Putin, go away".

At the head of the march, people pressed around the anti-corruption blogger Aleksei Navalny, shouting, "Aleksei, we are behind you!" and "We will follow you!" At first, the crowd was so tightly packed that the column could not move forward.

"We're cold, but we came", said Navalny. "This is not some fashion for protest. This is a real protest, because people keep coming. People came on their own - we don't have any buses, we're not bringing people here. All we do is send out a call. And the people come".

The authorities had prepared by convening a pro-government rally in another part of the city. On the podium at that event, many speakers focused their attention on the protest movement, warning that it could prove disastrous for (KGB - KC) Russia.

"We have opinions about Vladimir Putin - some support him, some don't - but we will not allow the country to fall apart", said Maksim Shevchenko, a prominent television and radio host, in remarks carried by Interfax. "We need clean elections, we need to fight against the tyranny of law enforcement, and our new president - whoever he is - will do this. But we do not want the country to break up, and we do not want a coup".

[1] photo from article