21 000 sullen, sombre Moscow protestors show displeasure at Putin “sowing hatred”

Flowers and placards are placed at site where Kremlin critic Nemtsov was murdered on Friday night in central MoscowPresident Vladimir Putin looks to have the Russian people where he wants them. Former editor George Palmer’s brilliant cover story in the Financial Mail this week argues Putin’s propaganda has been so adept that even his most unlikely claims are taken as gospel. As he opines at one point “If Russians believe this, they will believe anything.” But not all of them. Yesterday a “sombre and quiet” crowd of 21 000 shuffled slowly past the place where Russian Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was assassinated. Putin was up to trick as usual, detaining the crowd’s flow through a Police metal detector check-point through which they were all forced to pass, slowing proceedings to a crawl. People were sullen rather than outraged. Putin seems to be winning. In Ukraine. Against the West. And his own people. So far. -AH

By Leonid Ragozin

(Bloomberg Business) — Russian opposition supporters in Moscow blamed President Vladimir Putin for sowing hatred and causing the war in Ukraine, as they turned up to protest the murder of liberal politician Boris Nemtsov. But sadness and pragmatism prevailed over their outrage, and few of them appeared to be ready for radical action.

Somber and quiet, the crowd moved past the Kremlin and along the bridge where an unidentified gunman shot Nemtsov dead late Friday night. It turned out to be the biggest demonstration since the brutal clampdown on protesters in Bolotnaya Square in May 2013, yet to many an infuriatingly slow and uneventful procession.

Police cordoned off the entire path of the march, a routine measure, letting people into the designated area through metal detectors. Installed ostensibly to prevent a terrorist attack, the detectors created a bottleneck forcing thousands to wait over an hour in a densely packed square on the cold, damp afternoon before they could get through.

Moscow police estimated that 21,000 people were at the demonstration, compared with an estimate of more than 50,000 by Golos, an election-monitoring group. People stood patiently, and no one appeared to be in the mood to charge the police as Ukrainian protesters did during the Maidan revolution in Ukraine’s capital last winter.

“Revolution in Russia is impossible unless via a palace coup in the Kremlin. People here like to be herded,” said Vladimir Voronov, a retired army colonel, who was participating in a protest for the first time in his life. His son-in-law Mikhail Belyayev, an entrepreneur, disagreed. “I’ve seen the events of 1991 here in Moscow, so I believe everything is possible,” he said, referring to the fall of the Soviet Union. He pointed to the former offices of the Soviet Communist Party’s central committee: “See, three days before they got kicked out, no one could imagine it would ever happen,” he said.

The leaders of the opposition, Nemtsov included, had different plans for the Sunday march before the assassination. It was to be all about Russia’s economic crisis and the war in Ukraine, which is beset by Kremlin-backed rebels, and was due to be held on the outskirts of Moscow. Many supporters had been discouraged by the choice of the location, imposed by the government, and the turnout was expected to be weak. After the news of Nemtsov’s death broke, the authorities succumbed to the demand that the protest take place in the city center.

Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who was stuck with the others in front of the metal detectors, said revolution was a matter of everyday work. “It’s naive to think that if you sit and wait for long enough, it will somehow happen,” she said. Asked if the international community could help, she said, “They should have long ago figured out who Putin is, instead of cozying up to him all these years.”

Dozens of people carried the tricolor Russian flag, an unusual sight, to emphasize that the opponents of the government, depicted by the state-run news media as foreign-paid saboteurs, are in fact patriots. A pro-Putin rally held a week ago demanded that Russia should be purged of its “fifth column,” a term from the fascist wars of the 1930s used by government supporters to refer to the opposition.

“Putin — Enemy of the People,” read a poster carried by a 28-year-old, yet she didn’t seem upset that the protest remained mild. “Violence is Putin’s method, she said. “We need to change the regime through elections and by talking to people. Those 85% of his supporters, according to polls, are real, and we need to be reaching out to them.”

Many people carried pictures of Nemtsov and posters blaming the authorities and particularly state-run TV for creating a climate of hatred in which murders of political opponents become the norm. “Propaganda Kills” was one of the most popular signs. Policemen scoured the crowds looking for slogans that qualified as extremist under the notoriously vague Russian legislation.

One woman was approached by several officers, who discussed the meaning of her poster, which read: “You Can’t Kill the Spring.” They eventually left her alone.

Others weren’t so lucky. Riot police in full gear rammed into the crowd to detain a young protester for carrying a poster that read “Freedom or Death.” At least 19 people were detained, including Ukrainian member of parliament Olexiy Honcharenko, who was released after personal interference by Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko.

Posters expressing support for Ukraine were abundant. Asked who has caused the war, people said it was the Kremlin. “Putin can stop it in a week by simply blocking the supplies of armaments to the rebels. Nobody has asked us to go there, nobody out there needed our help — it’s all lies,” said 65-year-old pensioner Vitaly Bogdanov.

Middle-aged designer Inga Bochkareva was carrying a poster that read “Hands Off Ukraine.” She said “it’s no secret that Russia is interfering in Ukraine’s affairs and it might have been the reason for Nemtsov’s murder,” referring to a report on Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine war that Nemtsov’s friends said the politician was drafting before he died.

A separate group was carrying a banner demanding the release of the Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who has been on a hunger strike for over two months. The Russian authorities have charged her with killing two journalists during a battle in eastern Ukraine. She denies the charges and says she was kidnapped and illegally transported to Russia.

Heaps of flowers were piling up as people passed the spot where Nemtsov lost his life. With the Kremlin behind him, a lone protester held a poster that read “It’s Time.” Asked to explain, he said it was time to avenge Nemtsov’s murder by toppling “the government of thieves.” People filed past him toward their subway stations.

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