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The trigger for some of the biggest protests to sweep Russia in years has been the arrest of opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, who was arrested on his return home last month after surviving a poisoning by a nerve agent.
The anger runs deeper, however. Some protesters, young and old, say they have also taken to the streets to express their frustration at the declining standard of living and the perceived gap between a small, wealthy elite and ordinary people.
Real incomes fell 3.5% last year, unemployment is at its highest since 2011 and the economy in 2020, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, is said to have suffered its biggest contraction in 11 years.
Disenchantment with inequalities was targeted by Navalny in a YouTube video, posted shortly after his detention and viewed over 106 million times, which featured a 100 billion ruble ($ 1.31 billion) palace complex. in southern Russia.
Navalny claimed its ultimate owner was President Vladimir Putin, an allegation the Kremlin denies. Since then, Putin’s former judo training partner has said he owns it.
Alexandra, who demonstrated in Moscow on January 23, said she was shocked by the video, especially at a time when doctors were battling the coronavirus pandemic.
“I can imagine what kind of bonus doctors get: around 17,000 rubles ($ 223),” said the 24-year-old student, who declined to give her last name for fear of repercussions with authorities.
“And that [the video] It really touched me, it was the last straw, and I decided to protest, ”added Alexandra.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in major cities across the country on January 23, and just over a week later, though the numbers were fewer. Officials say the crowd estimates by protest leaders were inflated.
Police arrested thousands of people on the two days and over the weekend in central Moscow, hundreds of riot police were deployed to quell dissent.
‘Here for my grandmother’
While many protesters rallied under the banner of Navalny, who they said was persecuted by authorities because of his opposition to Putin, that was not the only reason to risk arrest. The Kremlin denies treating Navalny unfairly.
Sonya, a young protester in Moscow on January 31, said she supported the opposition brand, but was also motivated by an economic crisis.
“[Our] the country is in complete chaos… look at how retirees live, ”she told Reuters as she held up a gold toilet brush, a symbol of protest inspired by the alleged presence of such brushes on the property Navalny has presented.
“I am here for my family, for my grandmother. I will live in this country for many years to come, but I want my loved ones to live better than they do today.
The ruble falls on fears of new Western sanctions on the Navalny affair. This threatens to push up inflation, which reached 4.9% last year, well above the central bank’s 4% target.
Putin himself has expressed concern about rising food prices, a phenomenon that has prompted the government to introduce export taxes on certain foods to keep them in the country and bring down prices.
Re-elected for the fourth time in 2018, Putin pledged that real disposable income would rise steadily and the poverty rate would drop to 6.5 percent by 2024.
Both of those goals have now been postponed six years to 2030, with officials citing the pandemic as the reason.
The number of people living below the poverty line in Russia reached 18.8 million, or 12.8 percent of Russia’s total, in the third quarter of last year, according to official data. The number of people in this category increased by 700,000 compared to 2019.
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