Even in the depths of a Russian winter and under pain of police beating or years in jail, thousands of protesters took to the streets yesterday in the largest series of demonstrations seen in the post-Soviet era. They were apparently demanding the release of Alexei Navalny, the opposition politician who returned to Moscow after recovering in Germany from an attempt to kill him with a nerve agent.
His courage in risking imprisonment or even assassination upon return has helped fuel growing hostility toward Vladimir Putin, whose 20-year grip on power faces his greatest challenge. The Russian president has rejected similar protests in the past because they were largely limited to activists in major cities. It has had the support of the vast majority of the population, using military adventurism to stoke nationalist fervor, such as the annexation of Crimea.
But amid a pandemic that has reversed global economic growth, Russia is suffering more than most. The sanctions have caused foreign investment to run out apart from the energy sector and there is not much domestic investment either. The Russian people can see that Putin’s two decades in power have not brought prosperity or made “Russia great again.” Its only advantage is that the opposition is disunited and does not have a coherent vision of the future of Russia.
This year there will be elections that Putin will try to manipulate by prohibiting opponents from opposing his United Russia party. In an attempt to quell the demonstrations, Moscow has portrayed Navalny as a “puppet” of the West seeking to undermine Russia. But these protests do not concern Mr. Navalny. They are about the man from the Kremlin.
Even in the depths of a Russian winter and under pain of police beating or years in jail, thousands of protesters took to the streets yesterday in the largest series of demonstrations seen in the post-Soviet era. They were apparently demanding the release of Alexei Navalny, the opposition politician who returned to Moscow after recovering in Germany from an attempt to kill him with a nerve agent.
His courage in risking imprisonment or even assassination upon return has helped fuel growing hostility toward Vladimir Putin, whose 20-year grip on power faces his greatest challenge. The Russian president has rejected similar protests in the past because they were largely limited to activists in major cities. It has had the support of the vast majority of the population, using military adventurism to stoke nationalist fervor, such as the annexation of Crimea.
But amid a pandemic that has reversed global economic growth, Russia is suffering more than most. The sanctions have caused foreign investment to run out apart from the energy sector and there is not much domestic investment either. The Russian people can see that Putin’s two decades in power have not brought prosperity or made “Russia great again.” Its only advantage is that the opposition is disunited and does not have a coherent vision of the future of Russia.
This year there will be elections that Putin will try to manipulate by prohibiting opponents from opposing his United Russia party. In an attempt to quell the demonstrations, Moscow has portrayed Navalny as a “puppet” of the West seeking to undermine Russia. But these protests do not concern Mr. Navalny. They are about the man from the Kremlin.