Ever More Protest Actions are Taking Place in Russia's Regions, Krasheninnikov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 9 – Protests continue in Ingushetia and two major demonstrations took place over the weekend in Arkhangelsk and Yekaterinburg, part of a growing trend in which ever more Russians are showing themselves ready to go into the streets to defend their interests against the state and its allies, Fyodor Krasheninnikov says.

            The issues are different in different places, and the Kremlin is doing everything it can to make sure that details about these meetings are not covered in the central media, the Yekaterinburg commentator says. But enough information has come out to conclude that protests in the regions are going to continue to spread (newtimes.ru/articles/detail/179263).

            Most obviously, he says, these protests reflect “an all-Russian problem: the systematic ignoring by the powers that be of the opinions of local residents,” something the latter can protest with greater confidence their actions will matter than against the central authorities. And they can even count on some sympathy from officials who’ve had their hands tied by Moscow.

            At the same time, Krasheninnikov says, some regional officials “shamelessly exploit the fears of the Kremlin because it is much simpler to present the sincere anger of urban residents as a conspiracy of dark forces than to acknowledge that the regional and urban powers that be have lost all links with the population.”

            The examples of Arkhangelsk and Yekaterinburg, he says, “should inspire residents of all of Russia to engage in struggle: every time when the powers that be or the structures affiliated with them try to take something away from the citizenry, one need not be afraid but rather must go out into the streets.”

            “It isn’t necessary to wait for money and organizers, it isn’t necessary to elect leaders, and it isn’t necessary to create hierarchical structure which are easy to track and destroy. Instead, one must organize as a group and struggle – for each square, for each plot of land, for the right to be masters of their cities.”   

            “Fortunately,” the commentator says, “in our time, every individual can compose and make many copies of broadsides, and the Internet offers enormous possibilities for crowdfunding and self-organization.” These things are already on display in some Russian regions; they will soon be fund in many more.