MOSCOW PROTEST

On Human Rights Day, December 10th, 2011, thousands of Moscovites gathered on an island in the middle of the Moscow River to protest against the United Russia party, after a flurry of youtube videos taken with pocket cameras and smartphones went viral on the internet, strongly suggesting election fraud. The event was originally planned for Revolution Square, but was moved to Bolotnaya Square for reasons that differ depending on who you talk to.

As you can see in these photos and videos, there were loads of people present. I didn't attempt any sort of count, but it sure felt like a lot more than the 25,000 suggested by the authorities. I was only able to get to the event two and a half hours after it began, and on the way there I saw so many people with white ribbons leaving that I thought it was already over and I'd missed it. However, once I'd arrived and joined the big queue of people waiting to go through security and cross the bridge and join in, it was obvious that this was not the case.

There were also demonstrations in other parts of Russia on Saturday (including an unauthorized one in Moscow's Revolution Square that apparently was still allowed to take place), but this one was the largest, and regardless of the actual numbers, the turnout was massive enough that it would have been impossible for even the notoriously pro-Putin mainstream Russian media to ignore, certainly due in large part to the internet. As I understand it, the protest received some fairly reasonable coverage from traditional media outlets, at least compared with expectations.

Thankfully, the protest was a peaceful affair, with no violence, altercations, or arrests, at least that I'm aware of. People from wildly different political ideologies seemed united in their desire for fair, honest elections, and while there were anti-government chants and signs everywhere you turned, both the police and the protesters respected each others boundaries. All ages were present, with the notable exception of high school students, many of whom were informed by their schools on Friday that there would be a mandatory, last-minute test scheduled the following day, which just so happened to coincide with the demonstration.

It remains to be seen whether this movement will result in any real change. Thus far the powers that be appear unlikely to agree to the demand of the protesters to redo the recent election. However, the fact that such a large, anti-government demonstration was approved in the first place, that it turned out to be peaceful, and that it was actually covered in Russian mainstream media, are surely steps in the right direction. Long before these protests began, I would have been astonished to meet a Russian who didn't acknowledge the widespread corruption of the government, but it always seemed to be accompanied by the inertia of apathy. This is the first time that I've felt there was even a chance of any change. Whether this is the beginning of a revolution, a Russian Winter comparable to the Arab Spring of 2011, or merely the kindling of a fire that will eventually be snuffed out and frozen, I'm encouraged that Russians in Moscow and around the country are choosing to stand up and speak out for themselves.

All of these shots are entirely unedited, and admittedly, nothing special in terms of technical quality, but the message is more important than the medium.

UPDATE: Nope, it didn't help.