Protests in Russia

Protests in Russia occurred over the weekend due to the Russian Government's decision to prevent independent and opposition candidates running for the Moscow City Council. The protests were met with violent police intervention. I have collected a few articles on the protests from a variety of sources, which I have linked below.

Some reports labelled opposition leader Alexei Navalny's illness in jail mysterious, as it came after he encouraged the public to attend the protest. It was also suggested that the police response was extreme given the insignificance of the Moscow City Council. Others, such as TASS, a Russian news source, summarised Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's argument that the protests were illegal, and how, after criticism from France, she had pointed to instances of unnecessary police force during French protests, stating that democracies still had a long way to go.

Looking at different articles reporting on the same event, it is interesting to see what is left out of the various pieces. Most agree that these protests, and the police response, could mean that public approval of and confidence in President Putin is declining. The main reason for this would be that the citizens of Russia increasingly feel that their political freedom and public voice is diminishing.


https://time.com/5639451/what-the-protests-in-russia-mean-for-president-putin/
https://www.dw.com/en/russia-protesters-defy-ban-on-opposition-rally-in-moscow/a-49768602
https://tass.com/world/1071101
https://www.vox.com/world/2019/7/28/8933948/russia-protests-police-crack-down-moscow-demonstrations
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49169706