Paul Goble
Staunton, Dec. 26 – Over the course of the last 12 months, a time when Moscow increased repression to stamp out any protests, Russians nonetheless in many regions did engage in protest actions, although in most cases, they were about local issues and not against Putin, even though what they were protesting about was typically the result of his policies.
The Horizontal Russia portal, which tracks developments in Russia, has published a list of some of the most important of these actions, most of which because they took place far from Moscow and were not directed against Putin personally, have received relatively little attention (semnasem.org/articles/2025/12/26/akcii-protesta-2025).
Among the protests in Russia’s regions over the last 12 months, the portal provides details on actions against restricting abortions, against using parkland for other purposes, against mining, against the crackdown on street musicians, and against the liquidation of local self-government.
For a broader discussion of this issue and the way in which such protests could become politicized and directed against Putin if Russians begin to connect the dots, see my article, “Russians Protesting Mounting Problems, but Not Yet Against Putin,” EDM, Dec. 22 at jamestown.org/russians-protesting-mounting-problems-but-not-yet-against-putin/.
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