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Putin makes his presence felt as protesters take to Moscow's streets Putin makes his presence felt as protesters take to Moscow's streets
(about 3 hours later)
Hundreds of protesters who had gathered to express their fury at Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin were detained by riot police on Monday night in one of the biggest protests in the Russian capital for years. The opposition leader Alexei Navalny was among those arrested. Thousands of Russians streamed through metal detectors for hours, past camouflaged trucks and under the whirring blades of a helicopter, to join a mass protest against Vladimir Putin's official return to the Kremlin.
Navalny, backed by hundreds of supporters, had refused to leave Pushkin Square in central Moscow after a two-hour demonstration that had attracted about 25,000 people loudly shouting for Putin to resign. They were furious and frustrated. Gone were the lighthearted slogans and costumes that had thus far marked the protests that exploded in Moscow in December and carried through Russia's presidential vote on Sunday.
After the crowd dispersed, about 1,000 people, including Navalny and the leftist opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov, moved towards a fountain in the middle of the square and refused to leave. Riot police, wearing camouflaged clothing and black helmets, moved in to encircle them before roughly dragging them away into waiting vans in an operation that took more than an hour. A few held white flowers, a symbol of the peaceful movement. Their white ribbons, until now emblazoned with words like "For a Putin-less Russia", hung bare.
After Navalny was arrested, protesters shouting "Russia without Putin!" flooded on to Tverskaya Street, the Moscow thoroughfare that leads straight to the Kremlin. They were chased by columns of riot police as the traffic became blocked in chaotic scenes. Later, buses packed with police and trucks with army camouflage rolled through the streets of central Moscow. Many protesters had hoped to force Putin into a second round, proving that Russia's longtime leader had indeed lost the support of the heartland.
Earlier, 50 people had been detained during an unsanctioned rally of 3,000 people in St Petersburg; 50 more were held after a separate unsanctioned protest in Moscow. Instead they were met with an official result of nearly 64% for Putin, buoyed, election monitors say, by massive fraud. Russia's elections chief, Vladimir Churov, called the vote the "most honest in the world".
Some opposition leaders had threatened an escalation in protest methods, but did not put the move to the larger crowd that had gathered earlier. Many protesters said they were ready to march on the Kremlin if opposition leaders called for it. "It's not just about falsifications," said Ivan, 65, an office manager, explaining why he turned out on a workday to stand for two hours in wet, windy snow. "I want our country to be democratic. I want to be led not by crooks and thieves, but by normal people. I want society to democratise, to allow different parties to take part in elections, to allow different people into the presidential election. I want them to stop robbing the country."
Speaking on stage ahead of his arrest, Navalny denied that the demonstrators would flag. "We will not get tired of coming out into the streets. We will not go away," he said. To the 20,000 people who turned out for the protest, Putin wasn't a president, but a tsar. "These weren't presidential elections – it was a succession to the throne," read one large sign held high above protesters' heads.
Some observers believe a change in tactics of the opposition is inevitable given that the presidential election is over and activists may have difficulty sustaining regular peaceful demonstrations. Opposition leaders, taking to a stage constructed in the shadow of Alexander Pushkin, Russia's most revered poet, refused, one by one, to recognise a president they denounced as "illegitimate".
So far, the Kremlin's response to the protest movement has been to allow people to gather as long as they complete a lengthy approvals procedure requiring negotiations with city authorities. The Kremlin's bet, analysts believe, is that the protest movement will run out of steam. "I've heard that a lot of people are disappointed," opposition leader Alexey Navalny shouted from the stage. "Did you expect something different from these crooks and thieves? They robbed us."
The government had poured thousands of extra police and interior ministry troops into the capital, backed by army trucks and at least one helicopter. "We don't say we have a monopoly, but we are the people – we have a voice. We are the power here!" he shouted, launching a refrain repeated dozens of times over by the thousands of angry people in the crowd.
Those that gathered were furious at Putin's declared landslide victory in a vote marred by reports of fraud. The protesters told the Guardian they were unwilling to accept the longtime leader's formal return to power and vowed to continue demands for new and free elections. He promised that the protests would continue. But he also conceded, in the face of a crowd some five times smaller than those that had gathered before the presidential vote, that change would not come quickly.
"We are ready to be surrounded, thrown into an arrest van and beaten," said Arnold, 20, who attended the protest with two teenage friends. He was adorned with badges reading "Putin go fuck yourself" written backwards. "Everyone asks, will we be victorious? When will this happen and what should we do? I have two words that answer all these questions: truth and belief," he said.
"Who is the power here?" Navalny shouted from the stage during the protest. Thousands shouted: "We are the power here!" in a passionate refrain. Yevgenia Chirikova, another opposition leader, led the crowd in chants of "Putin is a thief!" "We overestimated our numbers a bit. We thought that the rest of the country knows everything that we do." That was a recognition of the split result – if Putin won 64% of votes around the country, he failed to break the 50% barrier in the capital.
While the protests that broke out in response to the contested parliamentary vote in December brought tens of thousands of Russians together in an unexpected show of peaceful civil unity, Monday's demonstration attracted an angrier contingent who refused to accept the presidential election result. "They fucked us again," read one massive placard, a succinct summation of what protesters said they felt.
"They fucked us again," read one massive placard held up by Alissa, 21. She and her boyfriend had flown in from the Urals city of Orenburg to attend the protest, having bought the tickets after Putin's militant victory speech. Alissa, 21, flew to Moscow early on Monday with her boyfriend in order to attend the protest. They bought their tickets for the two-hour flight from the Urals city of Orenburg after Putin's militant victory speech, which he made before less than 30% of votes were counted on Sunday evening. "I do not agree with yesterday's election," Alissa said. "We need a new government. We need changes."
"I do not agree with yesterday's election," she said. "We need a new government. We need changes." Olga, 17, was just five years old when Putin first came to power, anointed by former president Boris Yeltsin in 1999. She stood beside her father and pushed her fashionably-cut blonde fringe out of her eyes, as she said: "There are injustices in our government and in our country. If the people who are against that unite, maybe we can change something." If Putin serves his full six-year term, she will be a college graduate by then. If he serves a second term, as allowed by the constitution, she will be nearly 30.
Like many others at the protest, she said she was ready to march to the walls of the Kremlin, demanding her voice be heard. Her father, Fyodor, said: "I don't understand how the people of our country, with peace in their souls, can elect a person who didn't just renounce his KGB past, but on the contrary, promotes the system's continuation." Peering over the overwhelmingly young crowd, he said he didn't know what would come next.
Putin's decision to return to the presidency has led to an unprecedented movement against his rule. "No one came here to fight with anyone, or to die for anyone," he said. "Of course it's scary. But if the worst happens, it won't be because of us, but because of what the government does."
For now, however, it remains largely confined to Moscow and St Petersburg, traditionally homes to the Russian elite. If Putin won 64% of votes around the country, according to the elections commission, he failed to break the 50% barrier in the capital. The Kremlin has so far taken the approach of allowing protesters to gather, provided they obtained the appropriate permission from city authorities. Their bet, analysts believe, is that the protest movement will run out of steam.
Officials have shrugged off accusations of fraud and lack of competition, made by international elections observers and opposition activists alike, with elections commission chief, Vladimir Churov, calling the vote the "most honest in the world". The protesters indicated that would not be the case. As the thousands of peaceful attendees began to flood out of the square, into adjacent streets and metro entrances guarded by thousands of riot police, around 1,000 protesters refused to go.
Protesters called for Churov's resignation and carried signs denouncing Putin's return. "These weren't presidential elections – it was a succession to the throne," read one. "It's not just about falsifications," said Ivan, 65, an office manager. "I want our country to be democratic. I want to be led not by crooks and thieves, but by normal people. Among them were Navalny and the leftist opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov, who moved towards a fountain in the middle of the square, surrounded by supporters locked arm in arm.
"I want society to democratise, to allow different parties to take part in elections, to allow different people into the presidential election. I want them to stop robbing the country." Riot police, wearing camouflage and black helmets, moved in to encircle them, launching an hour-long standoff before they finally rushed in, roughly dragging the protesters away to waiting vans. Police said some 250 had been carted off in total. Hundreds more were briefly detained and immediately let go. Navalny was released around four hours later.
Several demonstrators carried signs citing a Soviet-era film, Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, mocking Putin's apparent decision to cry at a victory rally on Sunday night. The riot police rush blew the lid off the anger inside the square. Protesters shouting "Russia without Putin!" flooded on to Tverskaya Street, the Moscow thoroughfare that leads straight to the Kremlin. They were chased by columns of riot police, blocking traffic in a chaotic scene. Two hours later, riot police locked arm in arm continued to sweep down Tverskaya, chasing the remaining activists away. One woman in her 40s, wearing a white ribbon, burst into tears. "Who are you protecting? This isn't Chechnya, it's Moscow"
The crowd was overwhelmingly young, but joined in large number by pensioners. Olga, 17, accompanied her father, Fyodor. "There are injustices in our government and in our country. If the people who are against that unite, maybe we can change something," she said. Earlier, 50 people were detained during an unsanctioned rally of around 3,000 people in St Petersburg and 50 more at a separate, unsanctioned protest in Moscow.
"I don't understand how the people of our country, with peace in their souls, can elect a person who didn't just renounce his KGB past, but on the contrary, promotes the system's continuation," Fyodor said. Some opposition leaders had threatened an escalation in protest methods, but did not put the move to the larger crowd that had gathered earlier.
"No one came here to fight with anyone, or to die for anyone," he added. "Of course it's scary. But if the worst happens, it won't be because of us, but because of what the government does." Many protesters said they were ready to march on the Kremlin if opposition leaders called for it.
Protesters denounced the idea of Putin as a "lifetime leader". Alexey, 38, said he used to support Putin until his decision to remain in power, though as prime minister, in 2008. "The government should change regularly." "We are ready to be surrounded, thrown into an arrest van and beaten," Arnold, 20, who attended the protest with two teenage friends, told the Guardian. He was adorned with badges reading "Putin go fuck yourself" written backwards.
"We need to do this – of course something will change," he said. "Pinochet also didn't listen to his people. But when enough got together and forced him into a referendum, he left." Some observers believe a change in tactics by the opposition was inevitable given that the presidential election is over and activists may have difficulty sustaining regular peaceful demonstrations.
Speaking on stage ahead of his arrest, Navalny denied that the demonstrators would grow weary. "We will not get tired of coming out into the streets. We will not go away," he said.
Ahead of the election and the planned protest, the government had poured thousands of extra police and interior ministry troops into the capital, backed by army trucks and at least one helicopter.
Putin's decision to return to the presidency has led to an unprecedented movement against his rule. His militant victory speech, in which he described his election win as an "open and honest battle", only fuelled protester anger. Several demonstrators carried signs citing a Soviet-era film, "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", mocking his show of emotion at the Sunday night victory rally.
"We need to do this – of course something will change," said Alexey, 38. "Pinochet also didn't listen to his people. But when enough got together and forced him into a referendum, he left."
It was clear that other protesters sought to take a different turn. Upon his release around 1am local time, Navalny said the attempt to occupy the square was an "experiment" launched by Udaltsov. The events of Monday night, he said, "showed that there are already hundreds of people ready to remain until the end."