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2011–2013 Russian protests

December 27, 2022

The 2011–2013 Russian protests, which some English language media referred to as the Snow Revolution,[14] began in 2011 (as protests against the 2011 Russian legislative election results) and continued into 2012 and 2013. The protests were motivated by claims by Russian and foreign journalists, political activists and members of the public that the election process was fraudulent.[15] The Central Election Commission of Russia stated that only 11.5% of official reports of fraud could be confirmed as true.[16]

2011–2013 Russian protests
Snow Revolution
Part of Russian opposition protests rallies:
Dissenters' Marches (2005–2008), Russian Marches, Strategy-31 (since 2009), Impact of the Arab Spring, and Colour Revolution, among others
Rally at the Academician Sakharov Avenue, Moscow, 24 December 2011
Date4 December 2011 – 18 July 2013
Location
Russia, primarily Moscow and Saint Petersburg
Caused by
Goals
MethodsDemonstrations, Internet activism
Resulted in
  • Protests were suppressed, with many opposition leaders repressed
  • Election results were not revised
  • Preservation of Putin and his ruling party in power
Parties to the civil conflict
Lead figures
Number

"For Fair Elections"

  • 25,000 according to police, 60,000 according to organizers[1][2]
    (Moscow, 10 December 2011)
  • 28,000 according to police, 120,000 according to organizers[3][4]
    (Moscow, 24 December 2011)
  • 36,000 according to police, 160,000 according to organizers[5]
    (Moscow, 4 February 2012)

"Anti-Orange"

  • 500 according to media,[6][7] 5,000 according to organisers[8]
    (Moscow, 24 December 2011)
  • 138,000 according to police[5]
    (Moscow, 4 February 2012)
  • 50,000[9]
    (the rest of the country, 4 February 2012)

Pro-Putin rallies

  • 130,000 according to police[10]
    (Moscow, 23 February 2012)
  • 110,000 according to police[11]
    (Moscow, 4 March 2012)
Casualties
ArrestedOver 1,000[12][13]
(almost all on the first day, some more arrests on the post-2012 election protests)

On 10 December 2011, after a week of small-scale demonstrations, Russia saw some of the biggest protests in Moscow since the 1990s. The focus of the protests have been the ruling party, United Russia, and its leader Vladimir Putin, the current president, previous prime minister, and previous two-term president, who announced his intention to run again for President in 2012. Another round of large protests took place on 24 December 2011. These protests were named "For Fair Elections" (Russian: За честные выборы) and their organizers set up the movement of the same name. By this time, the "For Fair Elections" protesters had coalesced into five main points: freedom for political prisoners; annulment of the election results; the resignation of Vladimir Churov (head of the election commission) and the opening of an official investigation into vote fraud; registration of opposition parties and new democratic legislation on parties and elections, as well as new democratic and open elections.[17]

Initial protest actions, organized by the leaders of the Russian opposition parties and non-systemic opposition sparked fear in some quarters of a colour revolution in Russia, and a number of counter-protests and rallies in support of the government were held. On the first days following the election, Putin and United Russia were supported by rallies of two youth organizations, the government-organized Nashi and United Russia's Young Guard. On 24 December Sergey Kurginyan organised the first protest against what was viewed as "orange" protesters in Moscow, though the protest also went under the same slogan "For Fair Elections".[18] On 4 February 2012, more protests and pro-government rallies were held throughout the country. The largest two events were in Moscow: the "anti-Orange protest"[19] (alluding to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the most widely known color revolution to Russians), aimed against "orangism", "collapse of the country", "perestroika" and "revolution",[20] the largest protest action of all the protests so far according to the police;[9][20][21] and another "For Fair Elections" protest, larger than the previous ones according to the police.[20][22]

On 6 May 2012, protests took place in Moscow the day before Putin's inauguration as President for his third term. Some called for the inauguration to be scrapped. The protests were marred by violence between the protesters and the police. About 400 protesters were arrested, including Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov[23][24] and 80 were injured.[25] On the day of the inauguration, 7 May, at least 120 protesters were arrested in Moscow.[25] In June 2012, laws were enacted which set strict boundaries on protests and imposed heavy penalties for unauthorized actions. As of January 2013, interviews by Ellen Barry of The New York Times of working class elements which had supported the protests revealed an atmosphere of intimidation, discouragement, and alienation.[26]

Background

Previous protest rallies in 2000s

Main articles: Russian opposition and Political parties in Russia
Further information: Putin regime, Political groups under Vladimir Putin's presidency, Freedom of the press in Russia, Freedom of assembly in Russia, and Human rights in Russia

In the 2000s, due to increased restrictions in the election legislation and the takeover of large media under state control, a non-system opposition emerged, which was barred from participation in elections. This time, it included both left and right organisations as well as nationalists.

The largest protests and main opposition events include rallies to support the old NTV staff (2001), mass protests against Mikhail Zurabov's reforms (2005), Dissenters' March (2005–2008), Russian Marches, "I am free! I forgot what it means to fear" rallies for freedom of the press (2005–2006 and 2008), Vladivostok mass protests (2008–2010), Kaliningrad mass protests (2009–2010), Day of Wrath (Left Front actions) (2009–2011), Putin.Results and Putin.Corruption campaign, Putin must go campaign, Strategy-31 (for freedom of assembly) (2009–), etc.

Committee 2008, wide coalition The Other Russia, Yabloko, Union of Right Forces, Vanguard of Red Youth, Left Front, Russian People's Democratic Union, United Civil Front, movement for Khimki forest, Solidarnost, TIGER, Society of Blue Buckets, Coalition "For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption", etc. were among the main opposition groups within disorganized 2000s protest movement.

2011 election

According to RIA Novosti, there were more than 1,100 official reports of election irregularities across the country, including allegations of vote fraud, obstruction of observers and illegal campaigning.[16] Members of the A Just Russia, Yabloko and Communist parties reported that voters were shuttled between multiple polling stations to cast several ballots. The Yabloko and LDPR parties reported that some of their observers had been banned from witnessing the sealing of the ballot boxes and from gathering video footage, and some were groundlessly expelled from polling stations.[27] The ruling United Russia party alleged that the opposition parties had engaged in illegal campaigning by distributing leaflets and newspapers at polling stations and that at some polling stations the voters had been ordered to vote for the Communist party with threats of violence.[27] There were several reports of almost undetectable vote fraud—swapping of final polling station protocols just before final accounting by station chairmen—that happened late at night when most observers were gone.[28][29]

The Central Electoral Commission issued a report on 3 February 2012, in which it said that it received the total of 1686 reports on irregularities, of which only 195 (11.5%) were upheld after investigation. A third (584) actually contained questions about the unclear points of electoral law, and only 60 complaints were claiming falsifications of the elections results.[16] On 4 February 2012 the Investigation Committee of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation announced that the majority of videos allegedly showing falsifications at polling stations were in fact falsified and originally distributed from a single server in California, and the investigation on that started.[30]

Despite the official findings, protests carried on up to and beyond 4 March presidential election.

Demographic and economic basis

According to The New York Times, the leading element has consisted of young urban professionals, the well-educated and successful working or middle-class people[31] such as workers in social media.[32] These groups had benefited from substantial growth in the Russian economy until the 2008 economic crisis but have been alienated by increasing political corruption as well as recent stagnation in their income. The number of such individuals is large and growing in urban centers and is thought to represent a challenge to continuation of authoritarian rule.[33] According to Putin the legitimate grievances of this young and active element of Russian society are being exploited by opportunistic elements which seek to destabilize Russia.[34] Nationalist elements play a significant role in the coalition which is organizing and participating in the protests.[35]

Protests against government

 
The white ribbon is one of the protest symbols

4 December 2011

On 4 November 2011, during the annual Russian March event, representatives of "The Russians" movement declared a protest action planned for election day after polling districts closed.[36] As there was no official rally permit, the action by "The Russians" was unapproved and took place on 4 December at 21:00 in Moscow. The statement of non-recognition of electoral results spread widely. Сitizens were called upon to create self-governing institutions reflecting national interests and were told of falsifications and frauds said to have occurred during the elections. Alexander Belov declared the beginning of the "Putin, go away!" campaign.[37] The protest action, in which several hundreds persons participated, led to running battles with riot police. Leaders of "The Russians" Alexander Belov, Dmitry Dyomushkin, George Borovikov were arrested along with dozens of other nationalists. The head of the banned Movement Against Illegal Immigration organization Vladimir Yermolaev was detained at a voting station where he was an observer. Mass detentions of other public organizations occurred in Moscow. According to police some 258 persons have been detained.[38]

5–7 December 2011

On 5 December, around 5,000 opponents of the government began protesting in Moscow, denouncing Vladimir Putin and his government and what they believed were flawed elections. Campaigners argued that the elections had been a sham and demanded that Putin step down, whilst some demanded revolution.[15][39] Alexey Navalny, a top blogger and anti-corruption activist who branded Putin's United Russia party as the "party of crooks and thieves", is credited with initial mobilization of mass protests through postings on his LiveJournal blog and Twitter account. Navalny's agitation was denounced by United Russia as "typical dirty self-promotion" and a profane tweet describing Navalny as a sheep engaged in oral sex originated from Medvedev's Twitter account.[40][41]

Many pro-government supporters, including the pro-Putin youth group Nashi, were mobilized on 6 December at the site of the planned demonstration where they made noise in support of the government and United Russia.[42] There was a 15,000-strong rally of Nashi on Manezhnaya Square[43] and an 8,000-strong rally of the Young Guard on Revolution Square.[44] About 500 pro-United Russia activists marched near Red Square.[45] Truckloads of soldiers and police, as well as a water cannon, were deployed ahead of expected anti-government protests. It emerged that 300 protesters had been arrested in Moscow the night before, along with 120 in St. Petersburg.[46] During the night of 6 December, at least 600 protesters were reported to be in Triumphalnaya square chanting slogans against Putin,[15] whilst anti-government protesters at Revolution Square clashed with riot police and interior ministry troops. The police chased around 100 away, arresting some.[47] Protest numbers later reportedly reached over 1,000 at Triumphalnaya Square and dozens of arrests were reported, including Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader and former deputy prime minister,[48] and Alexey Navalny.[49] Over 250 arrests were made, with police using buses to transport the suspects to police stations to be charged. At least one Russian journalist claimed he was beaten by police officers who stamped on him and hit his legs with batons.[50] Another 200 arrests were reported in St. Petersburg and 25 in Rostov the same night as anti-government demonstrations took place. After three and a half hours, the Moscow protest came to an end.[51]

Attempts to stage a large protest in Moscow on 7 December fizzled out due to a large police presence in the city.[13]

10 December 2011

 
Rally in Pionerskaya Square in Saint Petersburg on 10 December 2011.
 
Rally in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on 10 December 2011
 
Protesters, 10 December, Bolotnaya Square, signs saying "Stop lying!" and listing the number of votes for each party on one of the polling stations, with United Russia at 19,48%, KPRF at 28,15% and Yabloko at 19,84%.

Via a Facebook group "Суббота на Болотной площади" (Saturday at Bolotnaya Square),[52] a call was made for a mass protest against the government on Saturday 10 December.[53][54] Prior to the demonstration newspapers commented that tens of thousands of Facebook users had positively responded to invitations to demonstrate in Moscow,[55] and, similarly, over 5,000 in St. Petersburg.[56] A permit had originally been issued to the group Solidarnost for a legal demonstration of 300 people in Revolution Square. By 8 December, more than 30,000[52] had accepted the Facebook invitation to attend. After negotiations with the demonstrators an alternative location for a 30,000-person demonstration was authorized by the Moscow government for the demonstration which took place on 10 December on Bolotnaya Square.[57] Prior to the demonstration, threats were made by Putin that police and security forces would be deployed to deal with anyone participating in illegal protests in Moscow or other cities; however, the event, when it took place, was peaceful and without attempts by the state to prevent or disrupt it.[58][59] Rapper Noize MC and author Boris Akunin both agreed to address the crowds, the latter flying in specially from Paris for the occasion.[60] Guerrilla theater by FEMEN and the circulation of a photoshopped image of Putin dressed as Muammar Gaddafi accompanied the protests.[61][62]

Attempts to disrupt the protests and the organizations supporting them included repeated prank calls to Yabloko and Novaya Gazeta. Russia's chief public health official, Gennady Onishchenko, warned on Friday that protesters risked respiratory infections such as the flu or SARS.[60] Warnings were issued that the police would be looking for draft dodgers at the protests. Students in Moscow were ordered to report Saturday during the time scheduled for the demonstration to an exam followed by a special class[60] conducted by headmasters regarding "rules of safe behavior in the city." Opposition Twitter posts were spammed by a botnet and a YouTube video, Москва! Болотная площадь! 10 Декабря! (Moscow! Bolotnaya square! 10 December!), was posted of orcs storming a castle shouting, "Russia without Putin."[61]

The Telegraph reported at 10:40 GMT that "Half an hour into what is likely to be Moscow's biggest demonstration since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's biggest state-controlled television station, Channel One, has no mention of the popular unrest on its website."[63] Journalist Andrew Osborn noted a bad 3G telephone signal in Bolotnaya Square, asking "Wonder if they have deliberately shut off in protest area [sic]".[63] The Guardian also reported that mobile internet had been "cut off" in the square.[17]

The Moscow demonstration was generally peaceful ending in the afternoon with the singing of Viktor Tsoi's song "Peremen" meaning "Changes", a perestroika anthem from the 1980s. Reports of the demonstration including its large size and demands for new elections were carried on the evening news in Russia by state controlled media.[58]

Police in Moscow estimated the protest numbers to be around 25,000, whilst the opposition claimed over 50,000 people were present during the demonstration.[1] Other activists claimed as many as 60,000 protesters in Bolotnaya Square, Moscow.[2]

Demands

 
Protester in Bolotnaya Square, 10 December. The sign says, "I did not vote for these bastards (United Russia mocking logo), I voted for other bastards (Yabloko, Spravedlivaya Rossiya, CPRF logos). I want votes re-counted."

While particular demands were not apparent in the first few days of the protests, by 10 December they had coallesced into five main points:[17]

  1. Freedom for political prisoners
  2. Annulment of the election results
  3. The resignation of Vladimir Churov, head of the election commission, and an official investigation of vote fraud
  4. Registration of the opposition parties and new democratic legislation on parties and elections
  5. New democratic and open elections

Speakers on Bolotnaya Square

Various politicians and celebrities addressed the crowd, including:

Other cities

 
Nizhny Novgorod, Minin and Pozharsky Square. Rally against the official results of the Russian legislative election 2011.

Like in Moscow, protests were planned to take place in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Kaliningrad, as well as 88 other towns and cities in Russia.[65][66] Smaller protests were reported in Tomsk,[1] Omsk,[67] Arkhangelsk, Murmansk,[67] Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kurgan,[67] Perm, Karelia,[68] Khabarovsk,[citation needed] Kazan[69] and Nizhny Novgorod.[70]

At least 10,000 protesters turned out in St. Petersburg, 3,000 in Novosibirsk,[71] whilst 4,000 others rallied in Yekaterinburg.[72] At least 1,000 people rallied in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast.[73]

"Sympathy protests" are also being held abroad. In London, the former parliamentary aide accused of being a Russian spy Katia Zatuliveter turned up holding a banner saying: "Russian vote 146 per cent fair".[63]

Some sources report only 100 arrests nationwide on 10 December due to the protests, mostly outside Moscow, which is a significantly smaller number than previous protests.[74] In Kazan, however, at least 100 protesters, mainly in their early 20s, were detained for failure to disperse.[75]

17–18 December 2011

 
Yabloko party meeting at Bolotnaya Square, Moscow, 2011-12-17

On 17 December another meeting was held at Bolotnaya Square in Moscow against the election fraud. The rally was organized by Yabloko but members of other political parties participated as well. Among the speakers were Grigory Yavlinsky and Sergey Mitrokhin from Yabloko and Vladimir Ryzhkov from the People's Freedom Party. The Moscow Police claimed there were 1500 demonstrators but eyewitnesses claimed there were up to 5000 people at the peak of the demonstration.[76][77] In any case, the turnout was far below that of the multi-party rally of 10 December.[78][79][80][81][82][83][84]

 
Communist Party of the Russian Federation meeting at Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, 18 December 2011

A rally was held on 18 December in Moscow, organized by Communist Party of the Russian Federation in Moscow and took place at Manezhnaya Square.[85] Several thousand supporters turned out, but many were elderly.[64]

Another smaller rally took place in Saint Petersburg at Pionerskaya Square.[86]

Gennady Zyuganov, head of the party and its candidate for President of Russia, has denounced election regularities but has also expressed his opposition to the organizers of the mass demonstrations who he views as ultra liberals who are exploiting unrest.[64]

24 December 2011

 
Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Academician Sakharov Avenue.
 
Alexey Navalny speaks at Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Academician Sakharov Avenue. Slogan "For Fair Elections"

There were large follow-up demonstrations 24 December including a rally "For Fair Elections" at Academician Sakharov Avenue in Moscow.[87][88] There were rallies in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod and two in Saint Petersburg.[89][90]

A podium was built at the end of the 700-metre (0.43-mile) avenue. On the podium were slogans, "Russia will be free" and "This election Is a farce."[91]

The atmosphere was peaceful but at least 40 bus loads of riot police were standing by as thousands of protesters demonstrated, with a total of up to 50,000 expected to arrive during the day. Alexei Kudrin, a former Putin insider, spoke advocating dialogue.[89] He was booed by some, but cheered by others.[92]

At least 21,000 protesters were in Moscow by 11:10 am GMT, according to Itar Tass, and there were at least 100 arrests in Vladivostok. According to on scene reporters, the atmosphere was fun, with white ribbons and balloons and condom-themed banners – a mocking reference to Vladimir Putin saying he believed the white ribbons, the protest movements symbol, were to promote safe sex.[93]

The Interior Ministry estimated that at least 28,000 people had turned up,[3] whilst some in the opposition claimed 120,000 protesters were in Moscow. Reporters of the Moscow Times said the figure was well above the 30,000 to 60,000 at the previous event and that there were about 80,000 protesters who came to this rally.[4] The infographics from RIA Novosti shows that the Sakharov Avenue can provide room for a maximum of 96,000 people at a density of 35 people per 10 sq m, or for 55,000 people at a smaller and more realistic density distribution.[94]

Alexei Navalny, greeted with a ovation when he finally spoke,[92] said there were enough people present at the protest to march to and overrun the Kremlin, but that they were committed to remaining peaceful, at least for the moment.[95]

I can see that there are enough people here to seize the Kremlin and the White House right now. We are a peaceful force and will not do it now. But if these crooks and thieves try to go on cheating us, if they continue telling lies and stealing from us, we will take what belongs to us with our own hands. ... These days, with the help of the zombie-box, they are trying to prove to us that they are big and scary beasts. But we know who they are. Little sneaky jackals! Is that right? Is that true or not?[92]

The crowd reportedly included liberals, anarchists, communists, nationalists and monarchists.[96]

Mikhail Gorbachev did not attend or speak but sent a message of support.[88] On the day of the rally, the former Soviet President called on Putin to resign.[97]

Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire independent presidential candidate, was in the crowd but did not speak.[92]

Speakers on Sakharov Avenue

Speakers have been arranged by Alexey Navalny, Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov, and Vladimir Tor, based on the principle of representation of different political forces.[98] The last speaker was Grandfather Frost who wished everyone a "Happy New Year".[88]

Nemtsov phone conversations controversy

On 19 December, Lifenews.ru news portal published[99][100] a recording of phone conversations ascribed to Boris Nemtsov, the leader of PARNAS People's Freedom Party, and one of the main organizers of the demonstration on Bolotnaya square on 10 December. According to one of the recordings, which were called by Nemtsov himself[101] "partially authentic, partially montaged and partially fake", he considers protesters "lemmings" (Russian: "хомячки"), "timid penguins" from Facebook and Vkontakte social networks, and claims he is "forced to represent" these people. In other recordings, he used profanities and referenced to the sexual life of some other leaders of the demonstration. He also called another prominent leader of protests, Alexey Navalny "a specialist of manipulating the internet mob". Nemtsov later apologized[101] to several leaders he characterized in these conversations, but not to protesters, and claimed that people that made recordings available to the public committed a crime.[101] Lifenews.ru claimed at least 3 million visitors coming to the site during the day, and the site was not accessible for some time.[102]

4 February 2012

 
Protesters march on Yakimanka street, Moscow, 4 February.
 
Protesters at Bolotnaya Square, Moscow, 4 February.

Despite temperatures of −20 degrees Celsius a third demonstration was carried out in Moscow by the For Fair Elections movement on 4 February, with 160,000 participants according to organizers or 38,000 participants according to the police. According to the state-run Ria Novosti's calculations, the Bolotnaya Square site provides room for a maximum of 101,000 people at a maximum density of 35 people per 10 sq m on the quay and 15 people per 10 sq m in the park, or for 53,000 people at a smaller and less compact density distribution.[103]

This time the demonstration started with a march from Kaluzhskaya Square to Bolotnaya Square where a meeting was held. The anti-Putin protesters carried white balloons and were wearing white ribbons. They chanted "Putin, Go Away!" and "Russia without Putin!". One of the banners read "Putin is a person without shame or conscience".[104]

Among the speakers were Yevgeniya Chirikova, Gennady Gudkov, Leonid Parfyonov, Olga Romanova, Vladimir Ryzhkov, Sergei Udaltsov, Ilya Yashin and Grigory Yavlinsky. The meeting was ended by Yuri Shevchuk who sang his famous song "Rodina" (Motherland).[105] The same day demonstrations were being held in other cities throughout Russia such as St Petersburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Nizhni Novgorod, Penza and Yaroslavl. Also the Russian-speaking population of other countries organized rallies worldwide with similar demands: Germany, Israel, USA.

The organisers of the third Moscow "For Fair Elections" protest had difficulties originally financing the protest because contributions from the public had waned by January 2012, so they financed the organisation of the protest with money collected earlier for other events.[106]

26 February 2012

At least 3,500 people demonstrated against Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, under heavy police presence, but no arrests were made.[citation needed] In Moscow on Sunday 26 February up to 30,000 people[107] lined the Garden Ring in a protest called the Big White Circle. White clothes and white ribbons were worn as protestors formed a nine-mile human chain[63] holding a white banner.[108] The event was described as an apolitical "act of unity" to avoid the official permission which protests require.[63]

5 March 2012

 
Moscow rally 5 March 2012 at Pushkin Square
 
Moscow rally 5 March 2012 at Pushkin Square: police forces shifted to the Pushkin Square

In response to Vladimir Putin's reelection during the Presidential Elections, protesters took to the streets of Moscow. After being denied to demonstrate on Lubyanka Square up to 25,000 people protested in Pushkin Square. A couple of thousand protestors stayed behind and clashed with riot police who moved in to disperse them, leading to several hundred arrests, including Alexey Navalny, Sergey Udaltsov and Ilya Yashin. Anti-government protests also took place in St Petersburg too, albeit smaller, at 3,000 people where 300 were arrested.[109][110]

10 March 2012

Another "For Fair Elections" protest was staged on the Novy Arbat street in Moscow. A permit was issued for 50,000,[111] but just 25,000 came according to the organisers and 10,000 according to the police.[112] The mood was downbeat after Putin won an absolute majority everywhere but Moscow where he garnered 46.95% of the vote. Sergei Udaltsov of Left Front, called for a massive demonstration 1 May, but no further protests are scheduled.[113][114]

18 March 2012

Up to 1000 protesters gathered at an unsactioned demonstration at the Ostankino television tower and 94 were arrested.[115] They were protesting against a documentary called The Anatomy of Protest, which had been shown on 15 March on NTV, a channel owned by Gazprom, a state-run firm.[116] The documentary claimed that protesters against the election of Putin as president had been given "money and cookies" as payment.[116] It also claimed that Alexei Navalny, a well-known opposition blogger, had been "spreading misinformation" and had "too many bodyguards" who were "beating up journalists".[116] Protesters wore white ribbons and chanted "Shame on NTV!"[115][116]

8 April 2012

For the first time since the beginning of the protests, opposition activists were allowed onto Red Square to demonstrate, though they were not allowed to pitch a tent. Just the previous weekend protesters were barred from the square and arrests made. This time, "hundreds" gathered, including Yevgenia Chirikova and Sergei Udaltsov.[117]

Astrakhan mayoral election of 2012

After fraud was alleged in the mayoral election of 2012 in Astrakhan and the United Russia candidate was declared the winner, organizers of the 2011–2012 Russian protests supported the defeated candidate, Oleg V. Shein of Just Russia, in a hunger strike. Substantial evidence of fraud was cited by the protesters but an official investigation failed to find significant violations.[118] The activists from Moscow found it difficult to gain traction over the issue with local residents who, like most Russians, accept political corruption as a given that is useless to protest.[119] The emissaries from Moscow persisted, buoyed by celebrities who support the reform movement, drawing 1,500 to a rally on 14 April.[120]

6 and 7 May 2012

Main article: Bolotnaya square case
 
The police cordons on Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge 6 May 2012

Protests involving about 20,000 people took place in Moscow the day before Putin's inauguration as President for his third term. Some called for the inauguration to be scrapped. About 400 protesters were arrested by the police, including Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov[23][24] and 80 were injured.[25] On the day of the inauguration, at least 120 protesters were arrested in Moscow.[25] Police also detained over 100 young men of conscription age (18–27), including 70 who had avoided the military draft.[121]

From the very beginning, the so-called "March of Millions" was a nervous event. Even before the march, many large liberal media sites: Echo Moscow radio station, Kommersant daily, and Dozhd TV channel, were subjected to DDoS-attacks.[122] Ilya Ponomarev, an opposition leader and member of parliament, said the police had started the clashes. "The police started it. Bolotnaya square filled up and the police sealed it off. when they started to push demonstrators, and people reacted," he said.[123] Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov said he believed the police were being too soft on the protesters.[124] Gazeta.ru reported "The efforts that the law enforcement are going to in order to provoke the protesters are so evident, it's impossible to remain blind to the plan of radicalization of peaceful protests behind their actions."[125]

Several hundreds meetings continued on 6/7 night, 7, 7/8 night and 8 May in different places in Moscow. Opposition leaders were arrested again. The arrests continued in the following months. The authorities' crackdown on the pro-democratic movement resulted in what has come to be known as the "Bolotnaya square case".

Opposition Coordination Council

Main article: Russian Opposition Coordination Council

Due to the fractured nature of the opposition, in June 2012 activists decided to create a 45-member Opposition Coordination Council (OCC), which would try to coordinate and direct dissent in Russia.

Elections for the council were held on 20–22 October 2012. 170,000 people had registered on the site cvk2012.org, of whom nearly 98,000 were classed as "verified" and nearly 82,000 had cast their votes.[126][127][128][129][130][131]

Most votes were cast for Alexey Navalny.

12 June 2012

 
The Red Square was closed during the days of and leading to 12 June protest
 
Moscow rally 12 June 2012

A peaceful protest rally by tens of thousands, protest organizers estimated their numbers at 50,000, while police put it at 15,000,[132] originating at Pushkin Square was held in Moscow on 12 June 2012, Russia Day. The rally was preceded by soaking rain; there was a thunderstorm after a few hours.[133] Protest activities fell within the conditions of the permit which had been issued by the authorities. A call by Sergei Udaltsov to march on the Investigative Committee of Russia which had raided organizers' homes on 11 June was rejected by other protest organizers.[134][135] The protest rally defied an atmosphere of intimidation and repression fostered by the Putin administration: The previous day, police had raided the homes of various opposition leaders and called them in for interrogation an hour before the protest was due to start on 12 June: Alexei Navalny, Ilya Yashin and Ksenia Sobchak all attended the interrogations.[132] The rally was also the first to follow a new law passed in June 2012 to punish protesters with larger fines.[132] Participation in the protest was diverse, united only by opposition to Putin; in addition to the revolutionary anti-capitalist Left Front led by Sergei Udaltsov, black-clad Russian nationalists and liberals sporting white ribbons participated despite expressing mutual disdain.[133]

15 December 2012

On Saturday afternoon about 2,000 protestors gathered in Lubyanka Square in Moscow, the location of the headquarters of the Federal Security Services, a successor to the KGB. A requested permit to lay flowers at the memorial stone in the square was denied.[136] There were mass arrests including Aleksei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov of the Left Front, Kseniya Sobchak, and Ilya Yashin. Those arrested, if prosecuted and convicted, face heavy fines under recently enacted legislation which outlaws organizing or participating in unauthorized demonstrations.[137]

13 January 2013: March Against Scoundrels

 
March Against Scoundrels

On 13 January 2013 a protest called the "March Against Scoundrels" was held in Moscow protesting passage of the Anti-Magnitsky law, a bill banning adoption of Russian children by people in the United States. A permit was sought and issued. According to the police there were about 10,000 participants.[138]

According to oppositioners counting there were from 30 to 50 thousand people. According to bloggers' counting – 24,474 participants.[citation needed]

6 May 2013

On 6 May 2013 a mass rally took place in Moscow. Among featured speakers were Boris Nemtsov and Aleksei Navalny.[139] Opposition leaders put the number of attendants at up to 50,000, though police stated 7,000 took part.[140]

18 July 2013

On 18 July 2013 Aleksei Navalny was sentenced to five years in prison for alleged embezzlement.[141][142][143] After the verdict was read, thousands gathered in Moscow's Manezhnaya Square to protest it.[144]

Rallies in support of the government

 
Putin supporters on 23 February Luzhniki rally.

Simultaneously with the anti-government protests, the government and United Russia were supported by rallies of the government funded youth organizations.[145]

4 December 2011

On 4 December, Nashi took to the Moscow streets with 15,000 young people that had been brought to Moscow from more than 20 regions and held meetings and concerts on the Revolution Square and Manezhnaya Square to express their support of president Medvedev and prime minister Putin.[146]

6 December 2011

On 6 December, about 5,000 activists from Nashi and other pro-Kremlin youth groups held pro-government rallies on Manezhnaya Square and Triumfalnaya Square.[146] To a New York Times reporter, it seemed that many of the participants in the rally were forced to attend.[147]

12 December 2011

On 12 December, the 18th anniversary of the Constitution of Russia, thousands of United Russia sympathizers demonstrated in Moscow in support of Putin.[148]

23 February 2012

 
Pro-Putin concert at Luzhniki Stadium: public at the stadium field. Placards with slogans: "I'm for Putin as I'm for the Motherland!", "Putin – Power, Putin – Glory, Putin – Great Russia!"

On 23 February, Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day, a massive pro-Putin march took place in Moscow. The march ended in Luzhniki Stadium, where a crowd of 130,000 (according to police estimates) was addressed by Vladimir Putin.[10][149] The BBC reported, however, that some attendees claimed they had been made to take part or paid. Some said they had been told they were attending a "folk festival". After Putin spoke, popular folk band Lubeh took to the stage.[150]

Putin's speech in Luzhniki was his single speech before such a large audience during 2012 presidential campaign. In the speech he called not to betray the Motherland, but to love her, to unite around Russia and to work together for the good, to overcome the existing problems.[151] He said that the foreign interference into Russian affairs should not be allowed, that Russia has its own free will. He compared the political situation at the moment with the First Fatherland War of 1812, reminding that its 200th anniversary and the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino would be celebrated in 2012.Putin cited Lermontov's poem Borodino and ended the speech with Vyacheslav Molotov's famous Great Patriotic War slogan "The Victory Shall Be Ours!" ("Победа будет за нами!").[151][152]

 
Panorama of the Luzhniki rally

4 March 2012

On the post-election rally of his supporters at Manezhnaya Square, while making an acceptance speech, Putin was for the first time ever seen with tears in his eyes (later he explained that "it was windy"). He said to a 110,000-strong audience: "I told you we would win and we won!"[11][153]

Anti-Orange protests

24 December 2011

On 2 December on Sparrow Hills, Sergey Kurginyan and his movement "Sut' Vremeni" (Essence of Time) organized the first protest against what was viewed as "orange" protesters in Moscow. The protest also supported the slogan "For Fair Elections".[18]

4 February 2012

 
Demonstrators with the "Putin – Our Choice" banner

Alongside smaller rallies that gathered 50,000 people throughout the rest of the country,[9] the large "Антиоранжевый митинг" ("Anti-Orange protest") was held on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow, near the World War II memorial complex, the largest protest action of all the protests so far according to the police.[20] It was organized by a number of public organisations: Patriots of Russia party, Kurginyan's "Sut' Vremeni", "Congress of Russian communities", "Regional public fund in support of the Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Russia"[18] "Trade Union of Russian citizens", "Pensioner Union of Russia", "Russian Union of Afghanistan veterans", "Assistance to realisation of constitutional rights of citizens 'Human rights'" group and others.[154]

According to the Moscow police, 138,000–150,000 people participated at the protest at the peak of attendance, while more people could have passed through the site.[104][155] Opposition groups disputed these figures "as grossly inflated", and some journalists, including one of the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, said the real number was "much lower".[156] The infographics from Ria Novosti shows that the Poklonnaya Hill site can provide room for a maximum of 193,000 people at a density of 35 people per 10 sq m, or for 117,000 people at a smaller and more realistic density distribution.[157] Some demonstrators, many of whom were state employees, said they attended under threat of dismissal. Some such claims made in the course of the protest organization were later refuted as falsifications by the opposition activists[9] and many other demonstrators said they came on their own free will according to a pro-government news site politonline.ru.[9] Vladimir Putin acknowledged that some attendees could have been coerced, but said that it was impossible to gather so many people by administrative pressure alone.[158][159]

The participants were mostly middle age, but there were many young and old persons.[9] Some of the participants were bused from other regions and cities with the transport provided by organizations participating in the action.[9][160] At a temperature of −21 °C, a number of heat guns were set up, as well as tents with free hot tea and confectionery.[9]

The resulting large attendance at the protest was not expected, and resulted in a traffic jam in a nearby Kutozovsky Avenue.[9] The organizers of the protests applied to the Moscow authorities to gather 15,000 people, but since the number was exceeded, they were faced with paying a fine.[158] Vladimir Putin, who earlier in the evening claimed to share the ideals of those who would go to Poklonnaya Hill,[161] offered to pay part of the fine with his own money.[158]

The "anti-Orange protest" name alludes to the (November 2004 – January 2005) Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the most ill-known to Russians color revolution. The term "orange" in Russian political discourse has highly negative connotations.[162][163][164] The speakers declared to be against "orangeism", "collapse of the country", "perestroika" and "revolution",[20] reminding the public of such historical events as Gorbachev's Perestroika and the 1917 Russian Revolution and urging never to repeat them. The call for fair elections was supported, but the leaders of protesters on Bolotnaya Square and Sakharov Avenue were condemned as "successors to those who destroyed the country in 1991 and 1917"[9] and who allegedly want "to remove not Putin, but the Russian state".[20] The visit of anti-government protest leaders to the U.S. embassy was condemned, as well as the alleged American interference.[9]

Pop-rock singer and composer Denis Maydanov performed on the scene,[165] and pop-rock group Diskoteka Avariya sang their popular song "The Evil Approaches".[9]

The symbol of the "anti-Orange protest" was an orange snake strangled in a fist.[166] The motto of the protest was "Нам есть, что терять!" (We have things to lose).[20] The top slogan chosen by online vote was "Не дадим развалить страну!" (Won't allow collapse of the country!) and among those frequently used were "Мы за стабильность" (We are for stability) and "Когда мы едины и мы непобедимы!" (When we are united we are invincible!).[167]

Speakers on Poklonnaya Hill

Media coverage

 
RT team covering protests in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on 10 December 2011

According to the BBC on 7 December, "State TV channels have generally ignored the protests, covering only pro-government rallies"[53] In contrast, newspapers have mentioned the protests in more depth.[170] The only federal TV station to mention the protests at length before 10's December was the independent, but not broadcast widely, Ren TV.[170]

By 10 December, however, breaking with practice in recent years, all the main state-controlled channels were covering the protests, and in a professional and objective manner.[171][172] According to one Russian media Alexey Pivovarov, NTV-channel host (now tightly run state media), refused to broadcast if the protests are not covered.[173][174] Later, in 2013 Pivovarov have left the NTV. Western media covered the protests extensively starting on 5 December.[175][176][177][178] Initial coverage by Fox News used footage of the 2011 Athens riots, showing palm trees, people throwing Molotov cocktails at police, and signs in Greek which Fox later claimed was an error and subsequently removed the report from its site.[179]

Internet

Twitter users in Russia have reported being overwhelmed by pro-government tweets timed to Bolotnaya Square protest-related tweets.[180] Many tweets seem to have been sent by hijacked computers, though the perpetrator(s) are not yet known.[180]

According to a report made by The Wall Street Journal the Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) have made a formal request to the social media site VKontakte to block opposition groups who 'encourage people to "trash the streets, to organize a revolution". The request was declined as only a few users behaved violently and it was unjust to ban a whole generally peaceful group.[181]

Sites and naming of protests

The two largest protest actions in December 2011 took place on Bolotnaya Square (10 December) and Academician Sakharov Avenue (24 December), and another major protest action is planned on Bolotnaya on 4 February 2012. This resulted in the campaigners being dubbed the "Bolotnaya-Sakharov opposition",[182][183] or taking into account the root meanings, the "swampy-sugar opposition." Former Speaker of Russia's State Duma and a leader of the United Russia party Boris Gryzlov advised Russians to "keep away of all those swamps", alluding to the phrase from the Russian film adaptation of Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles ("As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor" in the original book).[184]

Symbols

 
White ribbon, used by the "for fair elections" protesters.[185]

The white ribbon emerged in October 2011 as a symbol of opposition and since the elections has picked up momentum. Some Russians have been tying it to their clothing, cars, and other objects, and the motif has appeared on runet and on Twitter.[185] By 10 December, the Dozhd television channel was showing a white ribbon by its on-screen logo. The station's owner, Natalya Sindeyeva, explained this as being a sign of "sincerity", rather than "propaganda", and an attempt to be "mediators" instead of simply journalists.[172] NTV described 10 December as the day of "white ribbons".[172]

Vladimir Putin contemptuously referred to the white ribbons used by Russian protesters, comparing them to condoms[88] being used as a symbol of the fight against AIDS.[34][186]

Reactions

Response from Russian officials

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered an investigation into allegations of vote-rigging, though this received a cynical response from many opponents on his Facebook page.[187] He also defended the right of people to express their views, while denouncing the street protests.[187] On 22 December 2011, he called for a number of reform steps, including reintroducing the direct election of governors and reducing the required signatures for registering a political party or running in the presidential election.[188] A bill reintroducing direct election of governors was introduced in the Duma on 16 January 2012.[189]

At his annual question and answer TV conference Vladimir Putin answers Alexey Venediktov's question: "I'm glad that people appear who actively voice their position. I repeat, that if that is the result of 'Putin's regime', I'm glad that such people appear."

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Hillary Clinton "set the tone for some opposition activists" to act "in accordance with a well-known scenario and in their own mercenary political interests <...> our people do not want the situation in Russia to develop like it was in Kyrgyzstan or not so long ago in Ukraine."[190][191] Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on 12 December that, "Even if you add up all this so-called evidence, it accounts for just over 0.5 percent of the total number of votes. So even if hypothetically you recognise that they are being contested in court, then in any case, this can in no way affect the question of the vote's legitimacy or the overall results."[187] On 15 December 2011, Putin claimed that the organizers of the protests were former (Russian) advisors to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko during his presidency who were transferring the Orange Revolution to Russia;[192] he also claimed some organizers were paid by "foreign powers".[193]

On 27 December 2011, Putin reassigned Vladislav Surkov to the task of advancing Russia's modernization and development efforts; he remains a deputy prime minister but will no longer oversee Russia's political processes. Putin suggested that a dialogue with the protestors on the internet might be productive, but while upholding the right of the protestors to protest, criticized them for lack of direction and lack of a program relevant to Russia's development, comparing them to "Brownian motion, going every which way."[194]

Vladislav Surkov, political adviser to the Kremlin and Chief of Russian Presidential Administration, who had been developing strategies for Russia to cope with an uprising such as the Orange Revolution in Ukraine has recognized the vital nature of the demonstrators but hopes to head off development of a potentially revolutionary movement by instituting reforms such as those announced by Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev in his state of the nation address made 21 December 2011. According to Surkov, "The system has already changed".[31]

The rights of at least three Western television news channels (the BBC, CNN and Bloomberg) were suspended in Moscow by major provider Akado Telecom on 12 July 2012.[195][196] While the move was not officially linked to the protests, but rather to outdated licences, Alexei Navalny noted that it came just three days after comments by President Putin that "Russia's policies often suffer from a one-sided portrayal these days".[195][197]

Response from the Obama Administration

  Jay Carney, President Barack Obama's second White House Press Secretary, said that anti-government protests in Russia are a "positive sign" for democracy in the country.[198]

Other reactions

Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, has called on the authorities to hold a new election, citing electoral irregularities and ballot box stuffing. He criticized Vladimir Putin and the United Russia political party for violating peoples human rights and for not ruling the country in a proper Democratic fashion.[199] During the next major round of demonstrations that occurred on 24 December, he called on Putin to resign.[97]

Interpretation of protests

 
«Prague is closer to us than Pyongyang»:
a portrait of former Czech President and anti-communist dissident Václav Havel

The 2011 protests were the biggest in Russia since the 1990s, and surprised many with their scale. According to Victor Shenderovich, an opposition political commentator for radio station Ekho Moskvy, "This is political, not economic. The coal miners came out because they were not paid. The people coming onto the streets of Moscow are very well off. These are people protesting because they were humiliated. They were not asked. They were just told, 'Putin is coming back.'"[33] According to Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times columnist this humiliation of the rising middle class is the common ground the Russian movement shares with the Arab Spring.[200] According to The New York Times, another "explanation is the high level of public corruption [in Russia], which threatens new personal wealth. A second is a phenomenon seen in Gen. Augusto Pinochet's Chile, that economic growth can inadvertently undermine autocratic rule by creating an urban professional class that clamors for new political rights."[33] An additional explanation is that "Putin's unilateral announcement in September that he would run again for the presidency, in effect swapping places with Mr. Medvedev" contributed greatly, something some "Russians now snidely refer to [...] as "rokirovka" – the Russian word for castling in chess".[33]

Imprisoned oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has claimed that the protests were inspired, at least in part, by the example of the Arab Spring.[201] He told The Guardian, "We have only to reflect on the events in countries swept up in the Arab Spring to recognise the transformation taking place in the compact between the rulers and the ruled. While there are certainly many differences between those countries and Russia, there are some fundamental similarities."[201] In March 2012 Sergei Mironov, running for the presidency of Russia, also compared the situation to the Arab Spring, saying that: "Whoever wins the presidency, if he does not immediately begin deep political and social reforms [...] Russia will be shaken by a kind of Arab Spring within two years." The Telegraph pointed out that since Mironov is a former ally of Vladimir Putin, he could have been trying to scaremonger "as a subtle way of endorsing a crackdown on street demonstrations that are expected in the days after the vote".[202]

Repression

8 June 2012 in response to increased militancy by a segment of the protest movement a law was enacted imposing severe penalties on protesters who engage in unauthorized demonstrations or who exceed the boundaries of authorized ones. Maximum penalties were fines of several thousand rubles or imposed labor of up to 200 hours.[203]

On 11 June 2012, the day before a scheduled protest in Moscow the homes of the prominent activists, Kseniya Sobchak, Aleksei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov and others were raided and extensively searched. Literature, electronic data, lists of supporters, and funds were seized. The activists were ordered to report to the Investigative Committee of Russia for questioning during the scheduled protest. [204]

In popular culture

All the Kremlin's Men, 2015 book by Mikhail Zygar.[citation needed]

Winter Go Away!, 2012 documentary/ drama film directed by Dmitriy Kubasov.[citation needed]

Dressed Up for a Riot: Misadventures in Putin's Moscow, a 2018 nonfiction book by Michael Idov[citation needed]

See also

Further reading

  • Volkov, Denis (2015). The Protest Movement in Russia 2011–2013: Sources, Dynamics and Structures. Systemic and Non-Systemic Opposition in the Russian Federation: Civil Society Awakens?. Ashgate. pp. 35–49.

Notes

  1. ^ Further requests include:
    • Announcement of the elections were rigged and therefore cancellation of their results
    • Resignation of Churov and an investigation of its activities, the investigation of all available, according to the opposition, violations and falsifications, the punishment of perpetrators
    • Registration of opposition parties, the adoption of a democratic law on political parties and elections

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External links

  • Presentation by Masha Gessen about The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, 8 March 2012
  • Gallery of images, Moscow 12 June 2012

December 27, 2022
2011, 2013, russian, protests, which, some, english, language, media, referred, snow, revolution, began, 2011, protests, against, 2011, russian, legislative, election, results, continued, into, 2012, 2013, protests, were, motivated, claims, russian, foreign, j. The 2011 2013 Russian protests which some English language media referred to as the Snow Revolution 14 began in 2011 as protests against the 2011 Russian legislative election results and continued into 2012 and 2013 The protests were motivated by claims by Russian and foreign journalists political activists and members of the public that the election process was fraudulent 15 The Central Election Commission of Russia stated that only 11 5 of official reports of fraud could be confirmed as true 16 2011 2013 Russian protestsSnow RevolutionPart of Russian opposition protests rallies Dissenters Marches 2005 2008 Russian Marches Strategy 31 since 2009 Impact of the Arab Spring and Colour Revolution among othersRally at the Academician Sakharov Avenue Moscow 24 December 2011Date4 December 2011 18 July 2013LocationRussia primarily Moscow and Saint PetersburgCaused byAuthoritarianism rigged elections and lack of civil liberties Corruption in Russia Political repressionGoalsPolitical freedom fair elections and release of political prisoners For Fair Elections protests nb 1 Preventing colour revolution anti Orange counter protests MethodsDemonstrations Internet activismResulted inProtests were suppressed with many opposition leaders repressed Election results were not revised Preservation of Putin and his ruling party in powerParties to the civil conflictOpposition Liberals Trade unions Socialists Students Greens LGBT activists Yabloko CPRF Left Front Anarchists Social democrats Nationalists and monarchists PARNAS Libertarian Party of Russia The Other Russia People s Alliance Government MVD Police Internal Troops OMON United RussiaPro government protesters NashiLead figuresBoris Nemtsov Mikhail Kasyanov Vladimir Ryzhkov Grigory Yavlinsky Sergei Udaltsov Eduard Limonov Alexei NavalnyGarry Kasparov Victor Shenderovich Dmitry Medvedev 2011 2012 Vladimir Putin 2012 2013 Sergey Kurginyan Mikhail Leontyev Maksim ShevchenkoNumber For Fair Elections 25 000 according to police 60 000 according to organizers 1 2 Moscow 10 December 2011 28 000 according to police 120 000 according to organizers 3 4 Moscow 24 December 2011 36 000 according to police 160 000 according to organizers 5 Moscow 4 February 2012 Anti Orange 500 according to media 6 7 5 000 according to organisers 8 Moscow 24 December 2011 138 000 according to police 5 Moscow 4 February 2012 50 000 9 the rest of the country 4 February 2012 Pro Putin rallies 130 000 according to police 10 Moscow 23 February 2012 110 000 according to police 11 Moscow 4 March 2012 CasualtiesArrestedOver 1 000 12 13 almost all on the first day some more arrests on the post 2012 election protests On 10 December 2011 after a week of small scale demonstrations Russia saw some of the biggest protests in Moscow since the 1990s The focus of the protests have been the ruling party United Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin the current president previous prime minister and previous two term president who announced his intention to run again for President in 2012 Another round of large protests took place on 24 December 2011 These protests were named For Fair Elections Russian Za chestnye vybory and their organizers set up the movement of the same name By this time the For Fair Elections protesters had coalesced into five main points freedom for political prisoners annulment of the election results the resignation of Vladimir Churov head of the election commission and the opening of an official investigation into vote fraud registration of opposition parties and new democratic legislation on parties and elections as well as new democratic and open elections 17 Initial protest actions organized by the leaders of the Russian opposition parties and non systemic opposition sparked fear in some quarters of a colour revolution in Russia and a number of counter protests and rallies in support of the government were held On the first days following the election Putin and United Russia were supported by rallies of two youth organizations the government organized Nashi and United Russia s Young Guard On 24 December Sergey Kurginyan organised the first protest against what was viewed as orange protesters in Moscow though the protest also went under the same slogan For Fair Elections 18 On 4 February 2012 more protests and pro government rallies were held throughout the country The largest two events were in Moscow the anti Orange protest 19 alluding to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine the most widely known color revolution to Russians aimed against orangism collapse of the country perestroika and revolution 20 the largest protest action of all the protests so far according to the police 9 20 21 and another For Fair Elections protest larger than the previous ones according to the police 20 22 On 6 May 2012 protests took place in Moscow the day before Putin s inauguration as President for his third term Some called for the inauguration to be scrapped The protests were marred by violence between the protesters and the police About 400 protesters were arrested including Alexei Navalny Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov 23 24 and 80 were injured 25 On the day of the inauguration 7 May at least 120 protesters were arrested in Moscow 25 In June 2012 laws were enacted which set strict boundaries on protests and imposed heavy penalties for unauthorized actions As of January 2013 interviews by Ellen Barry of The New York Times of working class elements which had supported the protests revealed an atmosphere of intimidation discouragement and alienation 26 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Previous protest rallies in 2000s 1 2 2011 election 1 3 Demographic and economic basis 2 Protests against government 2 1 4 December 2011 2 2 5 7 December 2011 2 3 10 December 2011 2 3 1 Demands 2 3 2 Speakers on Bolotnaya Square 2 3 3 Other cities 2 4 17 18 December 2011 2 5 24 December 2011 2 5 1 Speakers on Sakharov Avenue 2 6 Nemtsov phone conversations controversy 2 7 4 February 2012 2 8 26 February 2012 2 9 5 March 2012 2 10 10 March 2012 2 11 18 March 2012 2 12 8 April 2012 2 13 Astrakhan mayoral election of 2012 2 14 6 and 7 May 2012 2 15 Opposition Coordination Council 2 16 12 June 2012 2 17 15 December 2012 2 18 13 January 2013 March Against Scoundrels 2 19 6 May 2013 2 20 18 July 2013 3 Rallies in support of the government 3 1 4 December 2011 3 2 6 December 2011 3 3 12 December 2011 3 4 23 February 2012 3 5 4 March 2012 4 Anti Orange protests 4 1 24 December 2011 4 2 4 February 2012 4 2 1 Speakers on Poklonnaya Hill 5 Media coverage 5 1 Internet 6 Sites and naming of protests 7 Symbols 8 Reactions 8 1 Response from Russian officials 8 2 Response from the Obama Administration 8 3 Other reactions 9 Interpretation of protests 10 Repression 11 In popular culture 12 See also 13 Further reading 14 Notes 15 References 16 External linksBackground EditPrevious protest rallies in 2000s Edit Main articles Russian opposition and Political parties in Russia Further information Putin regime Political groups under Vladimir Putin s presidency Freedom of the press in Russia Freedom of assembly in Russia and Human rights in Russia In the 2000s due to increased restrictions in the election legislation and the takeover of large media under state control a non system opposition emerged which was barred from participation in elections This time it included both left and right organisations as well as nationalists The largest protests and main opposition events include rallies to support the old NTV staff 2001 mass protests against Mikhail Zurabov s reforms 2005 Dissenters March 2005 2008 Russian Marches I am free I forgot what it means to fear rallies for freedom of the press 2005 2006 and 2008 Vladivostok mass protests 2008 2010 Kaliningrad mass protests 2009 2010 Day of Wrath Left Front actions 2009 2011 Putin Results and Putin Corruption campaign Putin must go campaign Strategy 31 for freedom of assembly 2009 etc Committee 2008 wide coalition The Other Russia Yabloko Union of Right Forces Vanguard of Red Youth Left Front Russian People s Democratic Union United Civil Front movement for Khimki forest Solidarnost TIGER Society of Blue Buckets Coalition For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption etc were among the main opposition groups within disorganized 2000s protest movement 2011 election Edit According to RIA Novosti there were more than 1 100 official reports of election irregularities across the country including allegations of vote fraud obstruction of observers and illegal campaigning 16 Members of the A Just Russia Yabloko and Communist parties reported that voters were shuttled between multiple polling stations to cast several ballots The Yabloko and LDPR parties reported that some of their observers had been banned from witnessing the sealing of the ballot boxes and from gathering video footage and some were groundlessly expelled from polling stations 27 The ruling United Russia party alleged that the opposition parties had engaged in illegal campaigning by distributing leaflets and newspapers at polling stations and that at some polling stations the voters had been ordered to vote for the Communist party with threats of violence 27 There were several reports of almost undetectable vote fraud swapping of final polling station protocols just before final accounting by station chairmen that happened late at night when most observers were gone 28 29 The Central Electoral Commission issued a report on 3 February 2012 in which it said that it received the total of 1686 reports on irregularities of which only 195 11 5 were upheld after investigation A third 584 actually contained questions about the unclear points of electoral law and only 60 complaints were claiming falsifications of the elections results 16 On 4 February 2012 the Investigation Committee of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation announced that the majority of videos allegedly showing falsifications at polling stations were in fact falsified and originally distributed from a single server in California and the investigation on that started 30 Despite the official findings protests carried on up to and beyond 4 March presidential election Demographic and economic basis Edit According to The New York Times the leading element has consisted of young urban professionals the well educated and successful working or middle class people 31 such as workers in social media 32 These groups had benefited from substantial growth in the Russian economy until the 2008 economic crisis but have been alienated by increasing political corruption as well as recent stagnation in their income The number of such individuals is large and growing in urban centers and is thought to represent a challenge to continuation of authoritarian rule 33 According to Putin the legitimate grievances of this young and active element of Russian society are being exploited by opportunistic elements which seek to destabilize Russia 34 Nationalist elements play a significant role in the coalition which is organizing and participating in the protests 35 Protests against government Edit The white ribbon is one of the protest symbols 4 December 2011 Edit On 4 November 2011 during the annual Russian March event representatives of The Russians movement declared a protest action planned for election day after polling districts closed 36 As there was no official rally permit the action by The Russians was unapproved and took place on 4 December at 21 00 in Moscow The statement of non recognition of electoral results spread widely Sitizens were called upon to create self governing institutions reflecting national interests and were told of falsifications and frauds said to have occurred during the elections Alexander Belov declared the beginning of the Putin go away campaign 37 The protest action in which several hundreds persons participated led to running battles with riot police Leaders of The Russians Alexander Belov Dmitry Dyomushkin George Borovikov were arrested along with dozens of other nationalists The head of the banned Movement Against Illegal Immigration organization Vladimir Yermolaev was detained at a voting station where he was an observer Mass detentions of other public organizations occurred in Moscow According to police some 258 persons have been detained 38 5 7 December 2011 Edit On 5 December around 5 000 opponents of the government began protesting in Moscow denouncing Vladimir Putin and his government and what they believed were flawed elections Campaigners argued that the elections had been a sham and demanded that Putin step down whilst some demanded revolution 15 39 Alexey Navalny a top blogger and anti corruption activist who branded Putin s United Russia party as the party of crooks and thieves is credited with initial mobilization of mass protests through postings on his LiveJournal blog and Twitter account Navalny s agitation was denounced by United Russia as typical dirty self promotion and a profane tweet describing Navalny as a sheep engaged in oral sex originated from Medvedev s Twitter account 40 41 Many pro government supporters including the pro Putin youth group Nashi were mobilized on 6 December at the site of the planned demonstration where they made noise in support of the government and United Russia 42 There was a 15 000 strong rally of Nashi on Manezhnaya Square 43 and an 8 000 strong rally of the Young Guard on Revolution Square 44 About 500 pro United Russia activists marched near Red Square 45 Truckloads of soldiers and police as well as a water cannon were deployed ahead of expected anti government protests It emerged that 300 protesters had been arrested in Moscow the night before along with 120 in St Petersburg 46 During the night of 6 December at least 600 protesters were reported to be in Triumphalnaya square chanting slogans against Putin 15 whilst anti government protesters at Revolution Square clashed with riot police and interior ministry troops The police chased around 100 away arresting some 47 Protest numbers later reportedly reached over 1 000 at Triumphalnaya Square and dozens of arrests were reported including Boris Nemtsov an opposition leader and former deputy prime minister 48 and Alexey Navalny 49 Over 250 arrests were made with police using buses to transport the suspects to police stations to be charged At least one Russian journalist claimed he was beaten by police officers who stamped on him and hit his legs with batons 50 Another 200 arrests were reported in St Petersburg and 25 in Rostov the same night as anti government demonstrations took place After three and a half hours the Moscow protest came to an end 51 Attempts to stage a large protest in Moscow on 7 December fizzled out due to a large police presence in the city 13 10 December 2011 Edit Rally in Pionerskaya Square in Saint Petersburg on 10 December 2011 Rally in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on 10 December 2011 Protesters 10 December Bolotnaya Square signs saying Stop lying and listing the number of votes for each party on one of the polling stations with United Russia at 19 48 KPRF at 28 15 and Yabloko at 19 84 Via a Facebook group Subbota na Bolotnoj ploshadi Saturday at Bolotnaya Square 52 a call was made for a mass protest against the government on Saturday 10 December 53 54 Prior to the demonstration newspapers commented that tens of thousands of Facebook users had positively responded to invitations to demonstrate in Moscow 55 and similarly over 5 000 in St Petersburg 56 A permit had originally been issued to the group Solidarnost for a legal demonstration of 300 people in Revolution Square By 8 December more than 30 000 52 had accepted the Facebook invitation to attend After negotiations with the demonstrators an alternative location for a 30 000 person demonstration was authorized by the Moscow government for the demonstration which took place on 10 December on Bolotnaya Square 57 Prior to the demonstration threats were made by Putin that police and security forces would be deployed to deal with anyone participating in illegal protests in Moscow or other cities however the event when it took place was peaceful and without attempts by the state to prevent or disrupt it 58 59 Rapper Noize MC and author Boris Akunin both agreed to address the crowds the latter flying in specially from Paris for the occasion 60 Guerrilla theater by FEMEN and the circulation of a photoshopped image of Putin dressed as Muammar Gaddafi accompanied the protests 61 62 Attempts to disrupt the protests and the organizations supporting them included repeated prank calls to Yabloko and Novaya Gazeta Russia s chief public health official Gennady Onishchenko warned on Friday that protesters risked respiratory infections such as the flu or SARS 60 Warnings were issued that the police would be looking for draft dodgers at the protests Students in Moscow were ordered to report Saturday during the time scheduled for the demonstration to an exam followed by a special class 60 conducted by headmasters regarding rules of safe behavior in the city Opposition Twitter posts were spammed by a botnet and a YouTube video Moskva Bolotnaya ploshad 10 Dekabrya Moscow Bolotnaya square 10 December was posted of orcs storming a castle shouting Russia without Putin 61 The Telegraph reported at 10 40 GMT that Half an hour into what is likely to be Moscow s biggest demonstration since the fall of the Soviet Union Russia s biggest state controlled television station Channel One has no mention of the popular unrest on its website 63 Journalist Andrew Osborn noted a bad 3G telephone signal in Bolotnaya Square asking Wonder if they have deliberately shut off in protest area sic 63 The Guardian also reported that mobile internet had been cut off in the square 17 The Moscow demonstration was generally peaceful ending in the afternoon with the singing of Viktor Tsoi s song Peremen meaning Changes a perestroika anthem from the 1980s Reports of the demonstration including its large size and demands for new elections were carried on the evening news in Russia by state controlled media 58 Police in Moscow estimated the protest numbers to be around 25 000 whilst the opposition claimed over 50 000 people were present during the demonstration 1 Other activists claimed as many as 60 000 protesters in Bolotnaya Square Moscow 2 Demands Edit Protester in Bolotnaya Square 10 December The sign says I did not vote for these bastards United Russia mocking logo I voted for other bastards Yabloko Spravedlivaya Rossiya CPRF logos I want votes re counted While particular demands were not apparent in the first few days of the protests by 10 December they had coallesced into five main points 17 Freedom for political prisoners Annulment of the election results The resignation of Vladimir Churov head of the election commission and an official investigation of vote fraud Registration of the opposition parties and new democratic legislation on parties and elections New democratic and open electionsSpeakers on Bolotnaya Square Edit Various politicians and celebrities addressed the crowd including Boris Akunin writer 17 Yevgenia Albats journalist The New Times magazine Dmitrii Bykov writer Yevgeniya Chirikova politician ecologist opposition supporter Mikhail Delyagin politician former chairman of the Rodina party Gennady Gudkov politician A Just Russia party Oleg Kashin journalist 17 Mikhail Kasyanov politician The Other Russia opposition coalition Yevgeny Kopyshev Union of Soviet Officers Communist Party of the Russian Federation called for restoration of Soviet power but was booed off the stage 64 Konstantin Krylov politician head of the nationalist Russian Social Movement Eduard Limonov writer and politician head of the National Bolshevik Party demonstrated and spoke first at the Revolution Square 17 Sergey Mitrokhin politician head of the Yabloko party Boris Nemtsov politician The Other Russia Noize MC rapper 17 opposition activist Oleg Orlov human rights activist chairman of the civil rights society Memorial Dmitry Oreshkin politologist supported the Union of Right Forces Leonid Parfyonov former news anchor 17 former chief editor of the Russian edition of Newsweek Grigory Yavlinsky politician founder and former head of the Yabloko partyOther cities Edit Nizhny Novgorod Minin and Pozharsky Square Rally against the official results of the Russian legislative election 2011 Like in Moscow protests were planned to take place in St Petersburg Vladivostok and Kaliningrad as well as 88 other towns and cities in Russia 65 66 Smaller protests were reported in Tomsk 1 Omsk 67 Arkhangelsk Murmansk 67 Yekaterinburg Novosibirsk Krasnoyarsk Kurgan 67 Perm Karelia 68 Khabarovsk citation needed Kazan 69 and Nizhny Novgorod 70 At least 10 000 protesters turned out in St Petersburg 3 000 in Novosibirsk 71 whilst 4 000 others rallied in Yekaterinburg 72 At least 1 000 people rallied in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia s Pacific coast 73 Sympathy protests are also being held abroad In London the former parliamentary aide accused of being a Russian spy Katia Zatuliveter turned up holding a banner saying Russian vote 146 per cent fair 63 Some sources report only 100 arrests nationwide on 10 December due to the protests mostly outside Moscow which is a significantly smaller number than previous protests 74 In Kazan however at least 100 protesters mainly in their early 20s were detained for failure to disperse 75 17 18 December 2011 Edit Yabloko party meeting at Bolotnaya Square Moscow 2011 12 17 On 17 December another meeting was held at Bolotnaya Square in Moscow against the election fraud The rally was organized by Yabloko but members of other political parties participated as well Among the speakers were Grigory Yavlinsky and Sergey Mitrokhin from Yabloko and Vladimir Ryzhkov from the People s Freedom Party The Moscow Police claimed there were 1500 demonstrators but eyewitnesses claimed there were up to 5000 people at the peak of the demonstration 76 77 In any case the turnout was far below that of the multi party rally of 10 December 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 Communist Party of the Russian Federation meeting at Manezhnaya Square Moscow 18 December 2011 A rally was held on 18 December in Moscow organized by Communist Party of the Russian Federation in Moscow and took place at Manezhnaya Square 85 Several thousand supporters turned out but many were elderly 64 Another smaller rally took place in Saint Petersburg at Pionerskaya Square 86 Gennady Zyuganov head of the party and its candidate for President of Russia has denounced election regularities but has also expressed his opposition to the organizers of the mass demonstrations who he views as ultra liberals who are exploiting unrest 64 24 December 2011 Edit Moscow rally 24 December 2011 Academician Sakharov Avenue Alexey Navalny speaks at Moscow rally 24 December 2011 Academician Sakharov Avenue Slogan For Fair Elections There were large follow up demonstrations 24 December including a rally For Fair Elections at Academician Sakharov Avenue in Moscow 87 88 There were rallies in Vladivostok Novosibirsk Orenburg Chelyabinsk Saratov Nizhny Novgorod and two in Saint Petersburg 89 90 A podium was built at the end of the 700 metre 0 43 mile avenue On the podium were slogans Russia will be free and This election Is a farce 91 The atmosphere was peaceful but at least 40 bus loads of riot police were standing by as thousands of protesters demonstrated with a total of up to 50 000 expected to arrive during the day Alexei Kudrin a former Putin insider spoke advocating dialogue 89 He was booed by some but cheered by others 92 At least 21 000 protesters were in Moscow by 11 10 am GMT according to Itar Tass and there were at least 100 arrests in Vladivostok According to on scene reporters the atmosphere was fun with white ribbons and balloons and condom themed banners a mocking reference to Vladimir Putin saying he believed the white ribbons the protest movements symbol were to promote safe sex 93 The Interior Ministry estimated that at least 28 000 people had turned up 3 whilst some in the opposition claimed 120 000 protesters were in Moscow Reporters of the Moscow Times said the figure was well above the 30 000 to 60 000 at the previous event and that there were about 80 000 protesters who came to this rally 4 The infographics from RIA Novosti shows that the Sakharov Avenue can provide room for a maximum of 96 000 people at a density of 35 people per 10 sq m or for 55 000 people at a smaller and more realistic density distribution 94 Alexei Navalny greeted with a ovation when he finally spoke 92 said there were enough people present at the protest to march to and overrun the Kremlin but that they were committed to remaining peaceful at least for the moment 95 I can see that there are enough people here to seize the Kremlin and the White House right now We are a peaceful force and will not do it now But if these crooks and thieves try to go on cheating us if they continue telling lies and stealing from us we will take what belongs to us with our own hands These days with the help of the zombie box they are trying to prove to us that they are big and scary beasts But we know who they are Little sneaky jackals Is that right Is that true or not 92 The crowd reportedly included liberals anarchists communists nationalists and monarchists 96 Mikhail Gorbachev did not attend or speak but sent a message of support 88 On the day of the rally the former Soviet President called on Putin to resign 97 Mikhail Prokhorov the billionaire independent presidential candidate was in the crowd but did not speak 92 Speakers on Sakharov Avenue Edit Liya Akhedzhakova actress Boris Akunin author Dmitrii Bykov poet Yevgeniya Chirikova activist Alexey Gaskarov activist Mikhail Gelfand biologist Garry Kasparov activist Mikhail Kasyanov politician Alexey Kortnev musician Konstantin Kosyakin activist Konstantin Krylov activist Alexei Kudrin politician Grigory Melkonyants activist Alexey Navalny activist Boris Nemtsov politician Vasya Oblomov musician Leonid Parfyonov journalist Ilya Ponomarev politician Vladimir Posner journalist Olga Romanova journalist Vladimir Ryzhkov politician Victor Shenderovich writer Yuri Shevchuk musician Vasily Shumov musician Kseniya Sobchak socialite Vladimir Tor Kralin activist Artemy Troitsky journalist Sergei Udaltsov activist Anastasia Udaltsova activist Vasily Utkin journalist Ilya Yashin activist Grigory Yavlinsky politician Vladimir Yermolaev activist Speakers have been arranged by Alexey Navalny Garry Kasparov Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Tor based on the principle of representation of different political forces 98 The last speaker was Grandfather Frost who wished everyone a Happy New Year 88 Nemtsov phone conversations controversy Edit On 19 December Lifenews ru news portal published 99 100 a recording of phone conversations ascribed to Boris Nemtsov the leader of PARNAS People s Freedom Party and one of the main organizers of the demonstration on Bolotnaya square on 10 December According to one of the recordings which were called by Nemtsov himself 101 partially authentic partially montaged and partially fake he considers protesters lemmings Russian homyachki timid penguins from Facebook and Vkontakte social networks and claims he is forced to represent these people In other recordings he used profanities and referenced to the sexual life of some other leaders of the demonstration He also called another prominent leader of protests Alexey Navalny a specialist of manipulating the internet mob Nemtsov later apologized 101 to several leaders he characterized in these conversations but not to protesters and claimed that people that made recordings available to the public committed a crime 101 Lifenews ru claimed at least 3 million visitors coming to the site during the day and the site was not accessible for some time 102 4 February 2012 Edit Protesters march on Yakimanka street Moscow 4 February Protesters at Bolotnaya Square Moscow 4 February Despite temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius a third demonstration was carried out in Moscow by the For Fair Elections movement on 4 February with 160 000 participants according to organizers or 38 000 participants according to the police According to the state run Ria Novosti s calculations the Bolotnaya Square site provides room for a maximum of 101 000 people at a maximum density of 35 people per 10 sq m on the quay and 15 people per 10 sq m in the park or for 53 000 people at a smaller and less compact density distribution 103 This time the demonstration started with a march from Kaluzhskaya Square to Bolotnaya Square where a meeting was held The anti Putin protesters carried white balloons and were wearing white ribbons They chanted Putin Go Away and Russia without Putin One of the banners read Putin is a person without shame or conscience 104 Among the speakers were Yevgeniya Chirikova Gennady Gudkov Leonid Parfyonov Olga Romanova Vladimir Ryzhkov Sergei Udaltsov Ilya Yashin and Grigory Yavlinsky The meeting was ended by Yuri Shevchuk who sang his famous song Rodina Motherland 105 The same day demonstrations were being held in other cities throughout Russia such as St Petersburg Kazan Kaliningrad Nizhni Novgorod Penza and Yaroslavl Also the Russian speaking population of other countries organized rallies worldwide with similar demands Germany Israel USA The organisers of the third Moscow For Fair Elections protest had difficulties originally financing the protest because contributions from the public had waned by January 2012 so they financed the organisation of the protest with money collected earlier for other events 106 26 February 2012 Edit At least 3 500 people demonstrated against Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg under heavy police presence but no arrests were made citation needed In Moscow on Sunday 26 February up to 30 000 people 107 lined the Garden Ring in a protest called the Big White Circle White clothes and white ribbons were worn as protestors formed a nine mile human chain 63 holding a white banner 108 The event was described as an apolitical act of unity to avoid the official permission which protests require 63 5 March 2012 Edit Moscow rally 5 March 2012 at Pushkin Square Moscow rally 5 March 2012 at Pushkin Square police forces shifted to the Pushkin Square In response to Vladimir Putin s reelection during the Presidential Elections protesters took to the streets of Moscow After being denied to demonstrate on Lubyanka Square up to 25 000 people protested in Pushkin Square A couple of thousand protestors stayed behind and clashed with riot police who moved in to disperse them leading to several hundred arrests including Alexey Navalny Sergey Udaltsov and Ilya Yashin Anti government protests also took place in St Petersburg too albeit smaller at 3 000 people where 300 were arrested 109 110 10 March 2012 Edit Another For Fair Elections protest was staged on the Novy Arbat street in Moscow A permit was issued for 50 000 111 but just 25 000 came according to the organisers and 10 000 according to the police 112 The mood was downbeat after Putin won an absolute majority everywhere but Moscow where he garnered 46 95 of the vote Sergei Udaltsov of Left Front called for a massive demonstration 1 May but no further protests are scheduled 113 114 18 March 2012 Edit Up to 1000 protesters gathered at an unsactioned demonstration at the Ostankino television tower and 94 were arrested 115 They were protesting against a documentary called The Anatomy of Protest which had been shown on 15 March on NTV a channel owned by Gazprom a state run firm 116 The documentary claimed that protesters against the election of Putin as president had been given money and cookies as payment 116 It also claimed that Alexei Navalny a well known opposition blogger had been spreading misinformation and had too many bodyguards who were beating up journalists 116 Protesters wore white ribbons and chanted Shame on NTV 115 116 8 April 2012 Edit For the first time since the beginning of the protests opposition activists were allowed onto Red Square to demonstrate though they were not allowed to pitch a tent Just the previous weekend protesters were barred from the square and arrests made This time hundreds gathered including Yevgenia Chirikova and Sergei Udaltsov 117 Astrakhan mayoral election of 2012 Edit After fraud was alleged in the mayoral election of 2012 in Astrakhan and the United Russia candidate was declared the winner organizers of the 2011 2012 Russian protests supported the defeated candidate Oleg V Shein of Just Russia in a hunger strike Substantial evidence of fraud was cited by the protesters but an official investigation failed to find significant violations 118 The activists from Moscow found it difficult to gain traction over the issue with local residents who like most Russians accept political corruption as a given that is useless to protest 119 The emissaries from Moscow persisted buoyed by celebrities who support the reform movement drawing 1 500 to a rally on 14 April 120 6 and 7 May 2012 Edit Main article Bolotnaya square case The police cordons on Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge 6 May 2012 Protests involving about 20 000 people took place in Moscow the day before Putin s inauguration as President for his third term Some called for the inauguration to be scrapped About 400 protesters were arrested by the police including Alexei Navalny Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov 23 24 and 80 were injured 25 On the day of the inauguration at least 120 protesters were arrested in Moscow 25 Police also detained over 100 young men of conscription age 18 27 including 70 who had avoided the military draft 121 From the very beginning the so called March of Millions was a nervous event Even before the march many large liberal media sites Echo Moscow radio station Kommersant daily and Dozhd TV channel were subjected to DDoS attacks 122 Ilya Ponomarev an opposition leader and member of parliament said the police had started the clashes The police started it Bolotnaya square filled up and the police sealed it off when they started to push demonstrators and people reacted he said 123 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said he believed the police were being too soft on the protesters 124 Gazeta ru reported The efforts that the law enforcement are going to in order to provoke the protesters are so evident it s impossible to remain blind to the plan of radicalization of peaceful protests behind their actions 125 Several hundreds meetings continued on 6 7 night 7 7 8 night and 8 May in different places in Moscow Opposition leaders were arrested again The arrests continued in the following months The authorities crackdown on the pro democratic movement resulted in what has come to be known as the Bolotnaya square case Opposition Coordination Council Edit Main article Russian Opposition Coordination Council Due to the fractured nature of the opposition in June 2012 activists decided to create a 45 member Opposition Coordination Council OCC which would try to coordinate and direct dissent in Russia Elections for the council were held on 20 22 October 2012 170 000 people had registered on the site cvk2012 org of whom nearly 98 000 were classed as verified and nearly 82 000 had cast their votes 126 127 128 129 130 131 Most votes were cast for Alexey Navalny 12 June 2012 Edit The Red Square was closed during the days of and leading to 12 June protest Moscow rally 12 June 2012 A peaceful protest rally by tens of thousands protest organizers estimated their numbers at 50 000 while police put it at 15 000 132 originating at Pushkin Square was held in Moscow on 12 June 2012 Russia Day The rally was preceded by soaking rain there was a thunderstorm after a few hours 133 Protest activities fell within the conditions of the permit which had been issued by the authorities A call by Sergei Udaltsov to march on the Investigative Committee of Russia which had raided organizers homes on 11 June was rejected by other protest organizers 134 135 The protest rally defied an atmosphere of intimidation and repression fostered by the Putin administration The previous day police had raided the homes of various opposition leaders and called them in for interrogation an hour before the protest was due to start on 12 June Alexei Navalny Ilya Yashin and Ksenia Sobchak all attended the interrogations 132 The rally was also the first to follow a new law passed in June 2012 to punish protesters with larger fines 132 Participation in the protest was diverse united only by opposition to Putin in addition to the revolutionary anti capitalist Left Front led by Sergei Udaltsov black clad Russian nationalists and liberals sporting white ribbons participated despite expressing mutual disdain 133 15 December 2012 Edit On Saturday afternoon about 2 000 protestors gathered in Lubyanka Square in Moscow the location of the headquarters of the Federal Security Services a successor to the KGB A requested permit to lay flowers at the memorial stone in the square was denied 136 There were mass arrests including Aleksei Navalny Sergei Udaltsov of the Left Front Kseniya Sobchak and Ilya Yashin Those arrested if prosecuted and convicted face heavy fines under recently enacted legislation which outlaws organizing or participating in unauthorized demonstrations 137 13 January 2013 March Against Scoundrels Edit March Against Scoundrels On 13 January 2013 a protest called the March Against Scoundrels was held in Moscow protesting passage of the Anti Magnitsky law a bill banning adoption of Russian children by people in the United States A permit was sought and issued According to the police there were about 10 000 participants 138 According to oppositioners counting there were from 30 to 50 thousand people According to bloggers counting 24 474 participants citation needed 6 May 2013 Edit On 6 May 2013 a mass rally took place in Moscow Among featured speakers were Boris Nemtsov and Aleksei Navalny 139 Opposition leaders put the number of attendants at up to 50 000 though police stated 7 000 took part 140 18 July 2013 Edit On 18 July 2013 Aleksei Navalny was sentenced to five years in prison for alleged embezzlement 141 142 143 After the verdict was read thousands gathered in Moscow s Manezhnaya Square to protest it 144 Rallies in support of the government Edit Putin supporters on 23 February Luzhniki rally Simultaneously with the anti government protests the government and United Russia were supported by rallies of the government funded youth organizations 145 4 December 2011 Edit On 4 December Nashi took to the Moscow streets with 15 000 young people that had been brought to Moscow from more than 20 regions and held meetings and concerts on the Revolution Square and Manezhnaya Square to express their support of president Medvedev and prime minister Putin 146 6 December 2011 Edit On 6 December about 5 000 activists from Nashi and other pro Kremlin youth groups held pro government rallies on Manezhnaya Square and Triumfalnaya Square 146 To a New York Times reporter it seemed that many of the participants in the rally were forced to attend 147 12 December 2011 Edit On 12 December the 18th anniversary of the Constitution of Russia thousands of United Russia sympathizers demonstrated in Moscow in support of Putin 148 23 February 2012 Edit Pro Putin concert at Luzhniki Stadium public at the stadium field Placards with slogans I m for Putin as I m for the Motherland Putin Power Putin Glory Putin Great Russia On 23 February Russia s Defender of the Fatherland Day a massive pro Putin march took place in Moscow The march ended in Luzhniki Stadium where a crowd of 130 000 according to police estimates was addressed by Vladimir Putin 10 149 The BBC reported however that some attendees claimed they had been made to take part or paid Some said they had been told they were attending a folk festival After Putin spoke popular folk band Lubeh took to the stage 150 Putin s speech in Luzhniki was his single speech before such a large audience during 2012 presidential campaign In the speech he called not to betray the Motherland but to love her to unite around Russia and to work together for the good to overcome the existing problems 151 He said that the foreign interference into Russian affairs should not be allowed that Russia has its own free will He compared the political situation at the moment with the First Fatherland War of 1812 reminding that its 200th anniversary and the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino would be celebrated in 2012 Putin cited Lermontov s poem Borodino and ended the speech with Vyacheslav Molotov s famous Great Patriotic War slogan The Victory Shall Be Ours Pobeda budet za nami 151 152 Panorama of the Luzhniki rally 4 March 2012 Edit On the post election rally of his supporters at Manezhnaya Square while making an acceptance speech Putin was for the first time ever seen with tears in his eyes later he explained that it was windy He said to a 110 000 strong audience I told you we would win and we won 11 153 Anti Orange protests Edit24 December 2011 Edit On 2 December on Sparrow Hills Sergey Kurginyan and his movement Sut Vremeni Essence of Time organized the first protest against what was viewed as orange protesters in Moscow The protest also supported the slogan For Fair Elections 18 4 February 2012 Edit Demonstrators with the Putin Our Choice banner Alongside smaller rallies that gathered 50 000 people throughout the rest of the country 9 the large Antioranzhevyj miting Anti Orange protest was held on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow near the World War II memorial complex the largest protest action of all the protests so far according to the police 20 It was organized by a number of public organisations Patriots of Russia party Kurginyan s Sut Vremeni Congress of Russian communities Regional public fund in support of the Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Russia 18 Trade Union of Russian citizens Pensioner Union of Russia Russian Union of Afghanistan veterans Assistance to realisation of constitutional rights of citizens Human rights group and others 154 According to the Moscow police 138 000 150 000 people participated at the protest at the peak of attendance while more people could have passed through the site 104 155 Opposition groups disputed these figures as grossly inflated and some journalists including one of the state owned news agency RIA Novosti said the real number was much lower 156 The infographics from Ria Novosti shows that the Poklonnaya Hill site can provide room for a maximum of 193 000 people at a density of 35 people per 10 sq m or for 117 000 people at a smaller and more realistic density distribution 157 Some demonstrators many of whom were state employees said they attended under threat of dismissal Some such claims made in the course of the protest organization were later refuted as falsifications by the opposition activists 9 and many other demonstrators said they came on their own free will according to a pro government news site politonline ru 9 Vladimir Putin acknowledged that some attendees could have been coerced but said that it was impossible to gather so many people by administrative pressure alone 158 159 The participants were mostly middle age but there were many young and old persons 9 Some of the participants were bused from other regions and cities with the transport provided by organizations participating in the action 9 160 At a temperature of 21 C a number of heat guns were set up as well as tents with free hot tea and confectionery 9 The resulting large attendance at the protest was not expected and resulted in a traffic jam in a nearby Kutozovsky Avenue 9 The organizers of the protests applied to the Moscow authorities to gather 15 000 people but since the number was exceeded they were faced with paying a fine 158 Vladimir Putin who earlier in the evening claimed to share the ideals of those who would go to Poklonnaya Hill 161 offered to pay part of the fine with his own money 158 The anti Orange protest name alludes to the November 2004 January 2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine the most ill known to Russians color revolution The term orange in Russian political discourse has highly negative connotations 162 163 164 The speakers declared to be against orangeism collapse of the country perestroika and revolution 20 reminding the public of such historical events as Gorbachev s Perestroika and the 1917 Russian Revolution and urging never to repeat them The call for fair elections was supported but the leaders of protesters on Bolotnaya Square and Sakharov Avenue were condemned as successors to those who destroyed the country in 1991 and 1917 9 and who allegedly want to remove not Putin but the Russian state 20 The visit of anti government protest leaders to the U S embassy was condemned as well as the alleged American interference 9 Pop rock singer and composer Denis Maydanov performed on the scene 165 and pop rock group Diskoteka Avariya sang their popular song The Evil Approaches 9 The symbol of the anti Orange protest was an orange snake strangled in a fist 166 The motto of the protest was Nam est chto teryat We have things to lose 20 The top slogan chosen by online vote was Ne dadim razvalit stranu Won t allow collapse of the country and among those frequently used were My za stabilnost We are for stability and Kogda my ediny i my nepobedimy When we are united we are invincible 167 Speakers on Poklonnaya Hill Edit Sergey Kurginyan politologist theater director TV host 168 Maksim Shevchenko journalist TV and radio host 168 Tatiana Tarasova coach to more world and Olympic champions than any other coach in figure skating history 158 Anatoly Wasserman political pundit a frequent winner of intellectual TV games 168 Nikolay Starikov writer opinion journalist 168 Mikhail Leontyev journalist and politologist 168 Valentin Lebedev journalist leader of the Union of Orthodox citizens 168 Natalya Narochnitskaya historian politologist 168 Eduard Bagirov writer scenarist 168 Johan Backman Finnish political author legal sociologist and criminologist 169 Pavel Popovsky leader of the Union of airtroopers of Russia 168 Aleksandr Dugin philosopher politologist nationalist publicist 154 168 Alexander Prokhanov writer publicist 168 Yegor Kholmogorov nationalist publicist 168 Vladimir Dolgikh World War II veteran two times Hero of Socialist Labor member of the State Duma 168 Media coverage Edit RT team covering protests in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on 10 December 2011 According to the BBC on 7 December State TV channels have generally ignored the protests covering only pro government rallies 53 In contrast newspapers have mentioned the protests in more depth 170 The only federal TV station to mention the protests at length before 10 s December was the independent but not broadcast widely Ren TV 170 By 10 December however breaking with practice in recent years all the main state controlled channels were covering the protests and in a professional and objective manner 171 172 According to one Russian media Alexey Pivovarov NTV channel host now tightly run state media refused to broadcast if the protests are not covered 173 174 Later in 2013 Pivovarov have left the NTV Western media covered the protests extensively starting on 5 December 175 176 177 178 Initial coverage by Fox News used footage of the 2011 Athens riots showing palm trees people throwing Molotov cocktails at police and signs in Greek which Fox later claimed was an error and subsequently removed the report from its site 179 Internet Edit Twitter users in Russia have reported being overwhelmed by pro government tweets timed to Bolotnaya Square protest related tweets 180 Many tweets seem to have been sent by hijacked computers though the perpetrator s are not yet known 180 According to a report made by The Wall Street Journal the Russia s Federal Security Service FSB have made a formal request to the social media site VKontakte to block opposition groups who encourage people to trash the streets to organize a revolution The request was declined as only a few users behaved violently and it was unjust to ban a whole generally peaceful group 181 Sites and naming of protests EditThe two largest protest actions in December 2011 took place on Bolotnaya Square 10 December and Academician Sakharov Avenue 24 December and another major protest action is planned on Bolotnaya on 4 February 2012 This resulted in the campaigners being dubbed the Bolotnaya Sakharov opposition 182 183 or taking into account the root meanings the swampy sugar opposition Former Speaker of Russia s State Duma and a leader of the United Russia party Boris Gryzlov advised Russians to keep away of all those swamps alluding to the phrase from the Russian film adaptation of Conan Doyle s The Hound of the Baskervilles As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor in the original book 184 Symbols Edit White ribbon used by the for fair elections protesters 185 The white ribbon emerged in October 2011 as a symbol of opposition and since the elections has picked up momentum Some Russians have been tying it to their clothing cars and other objects and the motif has appeared on runet and on Twitter 185 By 10 December the Dozhd television channel was showing a white ribbon by its on screen logo The station s owner Natalya Sindeyeva explained this as being a sign of sincerity rather than propaganda and an attempt to be mediators instead of simply journalists 172 NTV described 10 December as the day of white ribbons 172 Vladimir Putin contemptuously referred to the white ribbons used by Russian protesters comparing them to condoms 88 being used as a symbol of the fight against AIDS 34 186 Reactions EditResponse from Russian officials Edit President Dmitry Medvedev ordered an investigation into allegations of vote rigging though this received a cynical response from many opponents on his Facebook page 187 He also defended the right of people to express their views while denouncing the street protests 187 On 22 December 2011 he called for a number of reform steps including reintroducing the direct election of governors and reducing the required signatures for registering a political party or running in the presidential election 188 A bill reintroducing direct election of governors was introduced in the Duma on 16 January 2012 189 source source source source At his annual question and answer TV conference Vladimir Putin answers Alexey Venediktov s question I m glad that people appear who actively voice their position I repeat that if that is the result of Putin s regime I m glad that such people appear Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Hillary Clinton set the tone for some opposition activists to act in accordance with a well known scenario and in their own mercenary political interests lt gt our people do not want the situation in Russia to develop like it was in Kyrgyzstan or not so long ago in Ukraine 190 191 Putin s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on 12 December that Even if you add up all this so called evidence it accounts for just over 0 5 percent of the total number of votes So even if hypothetically you recognise that they are being contested in court then in any case this can in no way affect the question of the vote s legitimacy or the overall results 187 On 15 December 2011 Putin claimed that the organizers of the protests were former Russian advisors to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko during his presidency who were transferring the Orange Revolution to Russia 192 he also claimed some organizers were paid by foreign powers 193 On 27 December 2011 Putin reassigned Vladislav Surkov to the task of advancing Russia s modernization and development efforts he remains a deputy prime minister but will no longer oversee Russia s political processes Putin suggested that a dialogue with the protestors on the internet might be productive but while upholding the right of the protestors to protest criticized them for lack of direction and lack of a program relevant to Russia s development comparing them to Brownian motion going every which way 194 Vladislav Surkov political adviser to the Kremlin and Chief of Russian Presidential Administration who had been developing strategies for Russia to cope with an uprising such as the Orange Revolution in Ukraine has recognized the vital nature of the demonstrators but hopes to head off development of a potentially revolutionary movement by instituting reforms such as those announced by Russian President Dmitri A Medvedev in his state of the nation address made 21 December 2011 According to Surkov The system has already changed 31 The rights of at least three Western television news channels the BBC CNN and Bloomberg were suspended in Moscow by major provider Akado Telecom on 12 July 2012 195 196 While the move was not officially linked to the protests but rather to outdated licences Alexei Navalny noted that it came just three days after comments by President Putin that Russia s policies often suffer from a one sided portrayal these days 195 197 Response from the Obama Administration Edit Jay Carney President Barack Obama s second White House Press Secretary said that anti government protests in Russia are a positive sign for democracy in the country 198 Other reactions Edit Mikhail Gorbachev former President of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party has called on the authorities to hold a new election citing electoral irregularities and ballot box stuffing He criticized Vladimir Putin and the United Russia political party for violating peoples human rights and for not ruling the country in a proper Democratic fashion 199 During the next major round of demonstrations that occurred on 24 December he called on Putin to resign 97 Interpretation of protests Edit Prague is closer to us than Pyongyang a portrait of former Czech President and anti communist dissident Vaclav Havel The 2011 protests were the biggest in Russia since the 1990s and surprised many with their scale According to Victor Shenderovich an opposition political commentator for radio station Ekho Moskvy This is political not economic The coal miners came out because they were not paid The people coming onto the streets of Moscow are very well off These are people protesting because they were humiliated They were not asked They were just told Putin is coming back 33 According to Thomas L Friedman The New York Times columnist this humiliation of the rising middle class is the common ground the Russian movement shares with the Arab Spring 200 According to The New York Times another explanation is the high level of public corruption in Russia which threatens new personal wealth A second is a phenomenon seen in Gen Augusto Pinochet s Chile that economic growth can inadvertently undermine autocratic rule by creating an urban professional class that clamors for new political rights 33 An additional explanation is that Putin s unilateral announcement in September that he would run again for the presidency in effect swapping places with Mr Medvedev contributed greatly something some Russians now snidely refer to as rokirovka the Russian word for castling in chess 33 Imprisoned oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has claimed that the protests were inspired at least in part by the example of the Arab Spring 201 He told The Guardian We have only to reflect on the events in countries swept up in the Arab Spring to recognise the transformation taking place in the compact between the rulers and the ruled While there are certainly many differences between those countries and Russia there are some fundamental similarities 201 In March 2012 Sergei Mironov running for the presidency of Russia also compared the situation to the Arab Spring saying that Whoever wins the presidency if he does not immediately begin deep political and social reforms Russia will be shaken by a kind of Arab Spring within two years The Telegraph pointed out that since Mironov is a former ally of Vladimir Putin he could have been trying to scaremonger as a subtle way of endorsing a crackdown on street demonstrations that are expected in the days after the vote 202 Repression Edit8 June 2012 in response to increased militancy by a segment of the protest movement a law was enacted imposing severe penalties on protesters who engage in unauthorized demonstrations or who exceed the boundaries of authorized ones Maximum penalties were fines of several thousand rubles or imposed labor of up to 200 hours 203 On 11 June 2012 the day before a scheduled protest in Moscow the homes of the prominent activists Kseniya Sobchak Aleksei Navalny Sergei Udaltsov and others were raided and extensively searched Literature electronic data lists of supporters and funds were seized The activists were ordered to report to the Investigative Committee of Russia for questioning during the scheduled protest 204 In popular culture EditAll the Kremlin s Men 2015 book by Mikhail Zygar citation needed Winter Go Away 2012 documentary drama film directed by Dmitriy Kubasov citation needed Dressed Up for a Riot Misadventures in Putin s Moscow a 2018 nonfiction book by Michael Idov citation needed See also EditEuromaidan List of protests in the 21st centuryFurther reading EditVolkov Denis 2015 The Protest Movement in Russia 2011 2013 Sources Dynamics and Structures Systemic and Non Systemic Opposition in the Russian Federation Civil Society Awakens Ashgate pp 35 49 Notes Edit Further requests include Announcement of the elections were rigged and therefore cancellation of their results Resignation of Churov and an investigation of its activities the 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former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky The Guardian London Archived from the original on 14 January 2013 The Guardian Retrieved 26 February 2012 Parfitt Tom 2 March 2012 Arab Spring could come to Russia without reforms warns Putin rival The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 31 October 2013 The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 2 March 2012 David M Herszenhorn 8 June 2012 New Russian Law Assesses Heavy Fines on Protesters The New York Times Retrieved 9 June 2012 Ellen Barry 11 June 2012 Raids Target Putin s Critics Before Protest The New York Times Retrieved 12 June 2012 External links Edit2011 2013 Russian protests at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons News from Wikinews Presentation by Masha Gessen about The Man Without a Face The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin 8 March 2012 Gallery of images Moscow 12 June 2012 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2011 2013 Russian protests amp oldid 1119742195, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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