Russian protesters angry at what they say are rigged elections and the authoritarian ways of Vladimir Putin, flooded Moscow today demanding change.
At least 50,000 protesters flooded a downtown Moscow avenue Saturday to demand honest elections, in an impressive show of strength that dwarfed a rally two weeks ago and affirmed that a surging pro-democracy mood among Russia's frustrated middle class is not likely to fade soon.
Skip to next paragraphEven police said the crowd was much larger than the earlier one on Bolotnaya Square, which was hailed as the biggest protest rally in Moscow since the collapse of the USSR 20 years ago.
"I see enough people to take the Kremlin right now," anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny told the wildly cheering crowd.
Mr. Navalny, who was imprisoned for 15 days for taking part in the post-election protest, is best known as the author of the hyper-popular phrase "party of rogues and thieves" used to describe Vladimir Putin's United Russia.
"But we are a peaceful force, we won?t do it ? yet. But if the rogues and thieves continue trying to deceive us and lie to us, we will come for it. (Power) belongs to us," he added.
People waved homemade signs, with a staggering variety of messages, and many wore the white ribbons that have emerged as the symbol of Russia's "Winter Revolution."
Most said they hadn't come out to support any particular political force or leader but just to express their anger over what they believe was a stolen parliamentary election that returned the United Russia party with a diminished but still dominant 50 percent share of the seats.
More generally, the mostly youthful crowd seemed fed up with the Putin-era system of "managed democracy," which features limited electoral choices, a straitjacketed media and unaccountable, corrupt, and often arrogant authorities.
"We're tired of all the lies, the endless corruption, and feel like we are ready to participate in making decisions," said Vladimir Kuvshinsky, a 30-something network administrator in an IT firm. "We don't want another tyrant, we want a normal government. And we don't want our opinions to be treated like garbage anymore."
Most protesters focused their frustration on Mr. Putin, who has effectively been in charge of Russia for the past 12 years and announced last September that he will seek election as president under the banner of United Russia, which could see him running the Kremlin for another 12 years.
"We don't want 12 more years of Putin's dictatorship," said Ksenia Atarova, who described herself as a writer and critic. "The people have woken up at last, and they want fair elections and a chance to voice their resentment about a lot of things that are happening in this country. We're not going back into the box."
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