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It was around noon that the first man was arrested in Moscow. He was standing in Pushkin Square in the center of the city, holding a sign. “I’m not afraid,” he said. Something like that is enough for the police in Russia to take away.
The story of this man shows: the state is strong in Russia, he can do whatever he wants. But the state also has a problem: it is losing credibility.
But first things first: Russia was rocked today by protests across the country. They first took to the streets in Vladivostok, in the Far East. Then it followed – time zone by time zone – the cities of Siberia; Yekaterinburg in the Urals; then Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the great metropolises. The demand was the same everywhere: freedom for Alexei Navalny, an end to repression, an end to corruption. “Russia will be free,” people shouted.
Image victory for Navalny
It is difficult to say how many there were. It must have been tens of thousands. In Moscow, in any case, people flocked to Pushkin Square that afternoon. Many young people, some with their parents in tow. The Russian capital has not seen such a large protest in a long time.
For Alexej Navalny, who is in detention, this day is a great image victory. I’d bet everything on one card for the past week. He first returned from Germany, where he had recovered from a poison attack, and was immediately arrested. Then his team released a sensational documentary.
In the film “A Palace for Putin” the accusation is made that the Russian president had a residence built for the equivalent of more than one billion francs, financed with colossal bribes. The film is a huge success and has been viewed nearly 70 million times on YouTube alone.
An unconvincing denial
The video put pressure on the Putin system. How to react, they wondered in the corridors of the Kremlin. The president’s spokesman eventually dismissed the table’s accusations. It was all total nonsense, he said. Point.
That is not convincing. If there is nothing else, the accusations will stay with the president. Putin, that’s the one with the billion dollar palace.
Otherwise the machine doesn’t know how to deal with Navalny. For him, the remedy that so far has silenced all opposition parties does not work: fear. The untamed prisoner cannot be intimidated. While he is still in custody, he calls for resistance.
The state of punishment
Is the Kremlin running out of arguments? Yes. Is Putin’s power faltering from this? Probably not. Because the Russian state is strong and still works like a well-oiled machine. Today alone, at least 2,000 protesters were arrested. In addition, rumors are growing that the judiciary wants to punish Navalny harshly, very harshly. The opposition could disappear behind bars for more than ten years, it is said in Moscow. Just being right doesn’t bring victory after all.
It’s a bit like the man who was holding his sign in Pushkin Square around noon. A strong and moving gesture. They took it anyway.
David nauer
Russia Correspondent, SRF
