2011–2013 Russian protests

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2011 Russian protests
A crowd of enthusiastic protesters on Academician Sakharov Avenue, Moscow. Many balloons, posters, and flags. The protesters are bundled up on a cold overcast Winter day.
Rally at the Academician Sakharov Avenue, Moscow, 24 December 2011
Date5 December 2011 (2011-12-05) – ongoing (12 years, 5 months, 2 weeks and 3 days)
Resulted inLast major demonstration was on 24 December 2011
Casualties
Arrestedover 1,000[1][2]

The 2011 Russian protests began as a response to the 2011 Russian legislative election process, which many Russian and foreign journalists, political activists and members of the public considered to be flawed.[7] On 10 December 2011, after a week of small-scale demonstrations, Russia saw 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 prime minister and previous two-term president, who has announced his intention to run again for President in 2012. Another round of large protests took place on 24 December, 2011.

While demands were not clear in the first few days of the protests, by 10 December they 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.[8]

Background

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. 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 Liberal Democratic 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.[9] 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.[9] 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.[10][11]

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[12] such as workers in social media.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] There is evidence that some of the organizers of the protests such as Vladimir Ryzhkov[16] and the GOLOS Association, the international election monitoring agency, have received funding or training from the U.S. State Department funded National Endowment for Democracy.[17] Nationalist elements play a significant role in the coalition which is organizing and participating in the protests.[18]

Protests against the government

4 December

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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21][22][23]

5–7 December

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.[7][24] 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.[25][26]

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.[27] There was a 15,000-strong rally of Nashi on Manezhnaya Square[28] and a 8,000-strong rally of the Young Guard on Revolution Square.[29] About 500 pro-United Russia activists marched near Red Square.[30] 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.[31] During the night of 6 December, at least 600 protesters were reported to be in Triumphalnaya square chanting slogans against Putin,[7] whilst anti-government protesters at Revolution Square clashed with riot police and interior ministry troops. The police chased around 100 away, arresting some.[32] 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,[33] and Alexey Navalny.[34] 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.[35] 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.[36]

Attempts to stage a large protest in Moscow on 7 December fizzled out due to a large police presence in the city.[2]

Media coverage

RT team covering protests in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on December, 10th.

According to the BBC on 7 December, "State TV channels have ignored the protests, giving coverage only to rallies in support of the government."[37] In contrast, newspapers have mentioned the protests in more depth.[38] The only federal TV station to mention the protests at length before 10 December was the independent, but not broadcast widely, Ren TV.[38] 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.[39][40] According to Russian media, workers at state controlled television had refused to broadcast if the protests were not covered.[41][42]

Western media covered the protests extensively starting on 5 December.[43][44][45][46][47] Initial coverage by Fox News inexplicably used footage of the 2011 Athens riots, showing palm trees, people throwing Molotov cocktails at police, and signs in Greek.[48] Fox claimed it was an error and removed the report from its site.[49]

Symbols

White ribbon emerges as rallying symbol.[50]

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.[50] 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.[40] NTV described 10 December as the day of "white ribbons".[40] Vladimir Putin contemptuously referred to the white ribbons used by Russian protesters, comparing them to condoms[51] being used as a symbol of the fight against AIDS.[15][52]

Twitter

Twitter users in Russia have reported being overwhelmed by pro-government tweets timed to Bolotnaya Square protest-related tweets.[53] Many tweets seem to have been sent by hijacked computers, though the perpetrator(s) are not yet known.[53]

Reactions

On 7 December, Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, said he felt that a new election should be held to quell public anger over the fraudulent election.[54] He said that the number of Russians who believed the election was rigged was rising daily and that the government needed to listen to public opinion to prevent more civil unrest.[37]

Hillary Clinton stated that they expressed "well-founded concerns about the conduct of the elections.".[55] Vladimir Putin said in response that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments on the election "set the tone for some opposition activists" to act "in accordance with the well-known scenario of a color revolution and in their own mercenary political interests". An analyst for the BBC wrote that comments like Putin's blaming the West for street protest were "very much old software."[55]

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal a request was made by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, 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 due to the generally peaceful nature of the protests.[56]

10 December

Rally in Pionerskaya Square in Saint Petersburg on 10 December 2011.
Rally in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on 10 December 2011

Via a Facebook group "Суббота на Болотной площади" (Saturday at Bolotnaya Square),[57] a call was made for a mass protest against the government on Saturday 10 December.[37][58] Prior to the demonstration newspapers commented that tens of thousands of Facebook users had positively responded to invitations to demonstrate in Moscow,[59][60] and, similarly, over 5,000 in St. Petersburg.[61] 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[57] 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.[62] 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.[63][64] Rapper Noize MC and author Boris Akunin both agreed to address the crowds, the latter flying in specially from Paris for the occasion.[65] Guerrilla theater by FEMEN and the circulation of a photoshopped image of Putin dressed as Muammar Gaddafi accompanied the protests.[66][67]

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%.

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.[65] 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[65] 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."[66]

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."[68] Journalist Andrew Osborn noted a bad 3G telephone signal in Bolotnaya Square, asking "Wonder if they have deliberately shut off in protest area [sic]".[68] The Guardian also reported that mobile internet had been "cut off" in the square.[8]

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.[63]

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.[3] Other activists claimed as many as 60,000 protesters in Bolotnaya Square, Moscow.[4]

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:[8]

  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 in Moscow

Various politicians and celebrities addressed the crowd, including:

Other cities

Nizhny Novgorod. 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.[70][71] Smaller protests were reported in Tomsk,[3] Omsk,[72] Arkhangelsk, Murmansk,[72] Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kurgan,[72] Perm, Karelia,[73] Khabarovsk,[74] Kazan[75] and Nizhny Novgorod.[76]

At least 10,000 protesters turned out in St. Petersburg, 3,000 in Novosibirsk,[77] whilst 4,000 others rallied in Yekaterinburg.[78] At least 1,000 people rallied in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast.[79]

"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".[68]

Arrests

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.[80] In Kazan, however, at least 100 protesters, mainly in their early 20s, were detained for failure to disperse.[81]

Result

In response to the protests, President Dmitry Medvedev announced over his Facebook account the next day that, while he did not agree with the opposition's demands, he had ordered an investigation into the allegations of electoral fraud. Many thousands of Russian Facebook users responded angrily to his post.[82][83]

17 December

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.[84][85] In any case, the turnout was far below that of the multi-party rally of 10 December.[86][87][88][89][90][91][92]

18 December

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.[93] Several thousand supporters turned out, but many were elderly.[69]

Another smaller rally took place in Saint Petersburg at Pionerskaya Square.[94]

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.[69]

24 December

Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Academician Sakharov Avenue.
Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Academician Sakharov Avenue.
Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Academician Sakharov Avenue. The sign (in the image right side) says "The right way, comrades! Colonel Putin and Colonel Gaddafi"
Alexey Navalny speaks at Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Academician Sakharov Avenue. Slogan "For Fair Elections"
Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Academician Sakharov Avenue. Stationary slogan "Down the power of crooks and thieves!"

There were large followup demonstrations 24 December including a rally "For Fair Elections" at Academician Sakharov Avenue in Moscow.[95][51] There were rallies in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod and two in Saint Petersburg.[96][97]

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." [98]

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.[96] He was booed by some, but cheered by others.[99]

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.[100]

The Interior Ministry estimated that at least 28,000 people had turned up,[5] 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.[6]

Alexei Navalny, greeted with a ovation when he finally spoke,[99] 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.[101]

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?[99]

The crowd reportedly included liberals, anarchists, communists, nationalists and monarchists.[102]

Mikhail Gorbachev did not attend or speak but sent a message of support.[51] On the day of the rally, the former Soviet President called on Putin to resign.[103]

Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire independent presidential candidate, was in the crowd but did not speak.[99]

Speakers in Moscow

3

Speakers have been arranged by Alexey Navalny, Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov, and Vladimir Tor, based on the principle of representation of different political forces.[104] The last speaker was Grandfather Frost who wished everyone a "Happy New Year.[51]

4 February

The For Fair Elections movement has announced plans for mass demonstrations on 4 February, 2012.[105][106]

Rallies in support of the government

Simultaneously with the anti-government protests, the government and United Russia were supported by rallies of the government funded youth organizations.[107]

4 December

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.[108]

6 December

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.[108] To a New York Times reporter, it seemed that many of the participants in the rally were forced to attend.[109]

12 December

On 12 December, the 18th anniversary of the Constitution of Russia, thousands of United Russia sympathizers demonstrated in Moscow in support of Putin.[110]

Reactions

Russia President Dmitri Medvedev has ordered an investigation into allegations of vote-rigging, though this has received a cynical response from many opponents on his Facebook page.[111] He also defended the right of people to express their views, while denouncing the street protests.[111] 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.[112] A bill reintroducing direct election of governors was introduced in the Duma on 16 January 2012.[113]

Russia Prime minister Vladimir Putin has claimed that Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, prompted the demonstrations with her criticism of the conduct of the elections.[114] 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."[111] On 15 December 2011 Putin claimed that the organizers of the protests where former (Russian) advisors to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko during his presidency who where transferring the Orange Revolution to Russia;[115] he also claimed some organizers were paid by "foreign powers".[116]

On December 27, 2011 Putin reassigned Vladislav Y. 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.[117]

Russia 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.[54] During the next major round of demonstations that occured on 24 December, he called on Putin to resign.[103]

United States 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.[118]

Russia 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".[12]

Interpretation of protests

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.'"[14] 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."[14] 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".[14]

Nemtsov phone conversations controversy

On December 19, Lifenews.ru news portal published[119][120] 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 December 10. According to one of the recordings, which were called by Nemtsov himself[121] "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[121] 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.[121] Lifenews.ru claimed at least 3 million visitors coming to the site during the day, and the site was not accessible for some time.[122]

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