MOSCOW • The trigger for some of the biggest protests to sweep Russia in years was the arrest of opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was detained on his return to the country last month after surviving poisoning by a nerve agent.
The anger runs deeper, however, and some protesters, young and old, say they have also taken to the streets to vent their frustration over declining living standards and the perceived gap between a small, wealthy elite and ordinary people.
Real incomes fell 3.5 per cent last year, unemployment is at its highest since 2011 and the economy last year, hit hard by the pandemic, is estimated to have suffered its sharpest contraction in 11 years.
Disenchantment over inequality was targeted by Navalny in a YouTube video, released shortly after his detention and viewed more than 106 million times, which featured a 100 billion rouble (S$1.7 billion) palace complex in southern Russia.
Navalny alleged its ultimate owner was President Vladimir Putin, an allegation the Kremlin denies. Since then, Mr Putin's former judo sparring partner has said he owned it.
Alexandra, a student who joined a protest in Moscow on Jan 23, said she was shocked by the video, especially at a time when medics were battling the coronavirus pandemic.
"I can imagine what kind of bonus doctors get - about 17,000 roubles," said the 24-year-old student, who declined to give her surname for fear of repercussions from the authorities. "The video really got to me, it was the last straw and I decided to protest."
Navalny, 44, the Kremlin's most prominent critic, was in a Moscow courtroom yesterday facing several years in prison.
The anti-corruption campaigner is charged with violating the terms of a 31/2-year suspended sentence he was given in 2014 because he did not check in with the prison service while in Germany.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of major cities across Russia on Jan 23, and just over a week later, although the numbers were smaller. However, officials said protest leaders' estimates of the crowds were exaggerated.
Police arrested thousands of people on both days, and over the weekend in central Moscow, hundreds of riot police were deployed to quell dissent.
While many protesters rallied under the banner of Navalny, who they say has been persecuted by the authorities because of his opposition to Mr Putin, it was not the only reason for risking arrest.
The Kremlin denies treating Navalny unfairly.
Sonya, a young woman who joined the protest in Moscow on Jan 31, said she supported the opposition firebrand but was also motivated by an economic squeeze.
"Our country is in complete chaos... look at how pensioners live," she told Reuters, as she wielded a golden toilet brush, a symbol of protest inspired by the alleged presence of such brushes in the property that Navalny showcased in the video of the palace. "I am here for my family, for my granny. I will live in this country for many years to come, but I want my relatives to live better than now," she added.
The number of people living below the poverty line hit 18.8 million, or 12.8 per cent of Russia's total, in the third quarter of last year, according to official data. The number of people in that category rose by 700,000 compared with 2019. The rouble is falling on fears of new Western sanctions. That threatens to push up inflation, which hit 4.9 per cent last year, further above the central bank's target of 4 per cent.
REUTERS
