Protesters bearing flags of many slogans and fashions are once again in Moscow to protest the Presidency of Vladimir Putin. More than 22,000 estimated people took to the streets of Moscow to protest Putin’s stern stance towards opposition amongst various supposed corruption scandals. The protests began on Russia Day (June 12) which is a national holiday after the beginning of the fall of the former U.S.S.R. In recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced strong criticism for dramatically reducing the amount of opposition towards him and dramatically raising the fine for protesting to $10,000 USD; which is very large from a nation who’s people make an average income of $8,500 USD. Police in Russia have cracked-down on many protests, mainly targeting the residences of protest organizers and many high profile protesters, such as talk-show hosts.
Protesters in Moscow earlier this week (Photo credit: FreedomHouse)
One of these high-profile protesters, is a woman by the name of Ksenia Sobchak, who is a T.V. presenter and the daughter of the late Mayor of Saint Petersburg. The late Mayor of Saint Petersburg was also the mentor of Putin many years ago. Meanwhile, at a press conference, Ksenia Sobchak told reporters of the force used by the police when her house was raided. ”Police barged in at 8AM, gave me no chance to get dressed, robbed the apartment, humiliated me,” Ms Sobchak said in a Twitter post. ”I never thought we would return to such repression in this country.” She said in another Tweet. Some Russian blogging websites are comparing house raids like this to the many purges of Joseph Stalin during the 1930′s. These protests are planned to continue until further notice.
Meanwhile, the Russian Parliament is also under fire for supplying arms and helicopters to the Syrian military during its time of crisis. As the situation in Syria has escalated to a Civil War, many Russian citizens are questioning how the Russian Parliament deals with these kind of things; effecting how some people think of Putin.
Out of all this, several questions remain. Will Putin lighten the feel for opposition in Russia? Will the police use more peaceful methods to disperse protesters in Russia? Will the Russian Parliament loosen its ties with the Regimeist Syria?
