Member-only story
Why Russians can’t beat Putin in the street
But they can still win
Navalny’s prison sentence has stirred up a new wave of protest activity in Russia. Even those who had little or no interest in politics began to talk about the need to “fight the regime”.
News from the streets and squares has broken into the sterile agenda of Russia’s federal TV channels, where the previously forbidden word “Navalny” is now heard almost more often than the word “Putin.
The situation strongly resembles the mood of 2012, when the air in Moscow was saturated with opposition. At the time, it seemed that Putin’s departure was a matter of months, if not weeks. But Putin kept his seat, in spite of middle-class protests, street fighting, and opposition unification. And if he sat then, he will sit today.
Years of training
The Kremlin has long watched street activity with apprehension, especially after the aforementioned 2012. It was probably then that Russia began its slow transition from a police state to a police-prison state.
The Ukranian revolution has only strengthened the government’s belief that rallies are an evil and must be cut off at the root. Over the past six years, Russia has done a lot to prevent any Maidan.
