Starting January 23rd, there’ve been massive, anti-Putin protests in Russia. They began because of actions against the face of their group, Alexei Navalny. Navalny has stood up against Vladimir Putin’s style of leading several times. One of his most recent was his “Putin’s Palace” video he posted on YouTube. It showed a palace around the Black Sea worth a billion dollars, which Putin allegedly bought. This is significant to their stand against Putin because almost 20 percent of Russia’s population lives under the poverty line. The results of this were an attempted poisoning of Navalny. Of course, it’s suspected that Putin is behind it, as it was in front of the Federal Secret Service headquarters where he claimed the orders were given for his poisoning. Navalny spoke out about it and was soon arrested. This is when the protests started.
Putin has come out and said that he doesn’t own the palace along the Black Sea, nor does he have anything to do with the attempted poisoning of Navalny, stating, “If we had really wanted, we’d have finished the job”. It is said to be unusual for Putin to come out and make such statements, yet he has.
The protests are massive and the protesters are resilient. Not only are protesters not treated with any understanding from the government or law enforcement, but the weather is not in their favor. One of the world’s coldest cities is located in Russia: Yakutsk. Last Sunday Yakutsk was forty-five degrees below zero, and still protesters did not fail to show up. In the third largest city in Russia, Novosibirsk, the reported turnout was 5,000. They marched towards the main government building while chanting “Putin is a thief”.In another area, protesters marched towards Matrosskaya Tishina, where Navalny is being held. There’ve also been protests with golden toilet brushes to remind the government that they haven’t forgotten about the golden toilets worth $850 in the palace. Among the protesters was Navalny’s wife, Yulia. Yulia was specifically picked in the crowd and forcefully arrested.
Over 5,100 protesters have been arrested. They still continue to show up and represent their cause, fearful, but knowing that they can’t all be arrested and that most of those who are will be released.
I think it’s obvious that something is very corrupt in Russia’s system and how Putin wields all of the power. The immense numbers of protesters show that. The people have no voice, but are deciding to do something about it and make a voice for themselves even with the risks. It’s truly a remarkable stand they’re taking and I hope that something huge changes for them and that, if it comes to it, the U.S. will back them up.
Do you think a massive change will occur as a result of these protests? How will they affect Russia?
Do you believe Alexei Navalny’s claims/accusations?
Replies
Well done Katie!
I think that buying a billion dollar pallace is exactly something that putin would do. also did you see how Navalny's doctor died of a "heart attack" which I think is about as likely as there being a feburary 30th. Putin is on the fast track to becoming a dictator and nobody seems to notice it.
I don't think that anything major will happen because putin just wants as much power as possible while still being a "democracy". In the last couple years he even forced something through government that allowed him to be president until sometime in the 2030s.
I do not think that a massive change will occur from these protests. I think that it is odd that Putin would buy a palace that worth around a billion dollars if around a fifth of the population is under the poverty line. I do not have a side on these claims since who knows Navalny could be making stuff up or telling the truth.
I think that it is a good thing they are standing up in a country like that. I think some change might happen but I don't think it will be anything huge. I don't know how much the protest will do because of how powerful the government is and they will pretty much just do what they want.
I hope something changes in Russia. I'm glad people were able to show their voices. But, I don't think the protest is going to be enough. The Russian government is very mighty and I don't think that the citizens can do anything about it. I also don't think Putin was a part of trying to poison Navalny. That seems a little too far fetched, and not something that Putin would not do.
i dont really think that it will cause massive change because they are protesting but there might be some smaller changes to there government from these protest going on. i think that his claims could be true because how currupt russia is but they could also be false you dont really know.
I could totally see that, but smaller changes are still something getting them moving in the right direction, which is exactly what they need. And yea, it's really hard to know who to believe in this scenario.
I think these protest could affect russia. Putin will be hard to get rid of because he has a lot of power. But I think it's good that the people are protesting for what they believe. But I think some people could end up getting hurt if there not careful.
Putin will definetly be hard to get rid of, but yes, it's good that people are out protesting. Protesting either puts pressure on the government for a short amount of time and then dies down or is the smallest factor in the grand scheme of things. Either way, it shows Putin he's got a potential threat.
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