Russians are Protesting a Lot about Many Things Even If They Aren’t Taking to the Streets to Denounce Putin’s War, ‘NeMoskva’ Reports

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 11 – The image the Putin regime wants to present and that many reports about Russia today reflect is that Russians aren’t protesting, either because they support what Putin is doing, the Kremlin’s view, or because they have been cowed into silence because they fear the consequences, the view of many outside observers.

            But in fact, as the Nemoskva portal points out, Russians continue to protest across the country against many things just not those connected with Putin’s own policies and thus likely to get them into trouble (nemoskva.net/2024/09/11/v-rossijskih-regionah-protestuyut-protiv-krematoriya-vysotok-i-hrama/).

            In its latest weekly roundup on protests, the portal which covers developments outside of the Russian capital that are typically ignored by the Moscow media says that Russians have protested against the construction of new crematoriums, the lifting of restrictions on the height of buildings, and the construction of new churches.

            Such actions are seen by most Russians as “non-political” and thus unlikely to land them in difficulties with the authorities, but they are an indication that the willingness of Russians to go into the streets on things of importance to them has not disappeared but only been put on hold by fears of repression.

            That helps to explain why Putin continues to increase repression across the board. He and his entourage are certainly aware that if he ever loosens up, Russians now taking to the streets to protest about building heights or the construction of churches in their neighborhoods will quite prepared to demonstrate against him and his regime as such.