Majority of Protests in Russian Federal Subjects in 2024 were about Local or Regional Issues, Sorokina Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 23 – Protests beyond Moscow’s ring road seldom get much attention in the central media be it government or independent. A happy exception is the coverage the 7x7 telegram channel Horizontal Russia provides. Now using its reports, journalist Yanina Sorokina provides a picture of protests outside of Moscow in Russia’s federal subjects in 2024.
    The channel reported on more than 300 protest actions in the regions and republics, she says. Of these, the largest number, affecting more than 40 federal subjects, concerned local issues, including maintenance of roads, standard of living, construction of new buildings, and the fate of local and regional officials (semnasem.org/articles/2024/12/23/o-chem-i-kak-regiony-rossii-protestovali-v-2024-godu).
    The most popular form of protest was not public meetings but the circulation of petitions to the authorities, Sorokina says. There were 152 such protests that Horizontal Russia reported on. The popularity of this kind of protest is that those who took part were rarely subject to administrative or criminal sanctions and that sometimes these petitions achieved their goals.
    Residents of the regions and republics did join some all-Russian actions. People in 55 regions protested the treatment of Aleksey Navalny and demanded that his body be handed over to his relatives. And residents of 14 organized actions to express their support for the victims of the Crocus City Hall terrorist act.
    Regional residents also took part in protests on both sides of the dispute about how to handle homeless animals with some demanding that dogs and cats be provided with shelters and others calling for these creatures to be euthanized in the name of protecting Russians, an all-Russia issue that has divided the country for years.