Roulettian Intermezzo - Photo of the Week

                         

Pulling the sled in snow-covered Yussupov Gardens

Putin's Roulettian Ancestry and How Now?

In fact, it turns out that the former and future President of the Russian Federation is himself a rather roulettian character. There were so many chances for Vladimir Putin to end up never existing.


Putin's paternal grandfather was an excellent cook trusted in high circles: he prepared savory meals for Lenin and his clan and later also for Stalin, whereby he somehow managed to survive Stalin's sweeping random purges unscathed. Putin's maternal grandmother was killed by a stray bullet during World War II, her older brothers disappeared at the front without a trace. 


Putin's own two older brothers died as infants: Oleg passed away before his first birthday, Viktor succumbed to diphtheria during the first year of the Leningrad blockade and was buried in a common grave. Maria, Putin's mother, had the chance to evacuate out of encircled, starving Leningrad, but refused to leave her husband, Vladimir, who was wounded by a grenade in 1942. By the end of the blockade, she was so weak from starvation that she could barely move, and only her husband's additional soldier rations prevented her demise. 


Over a million people died before the blockade was finally lifted in January 1944, but two of those who survived the entire siege were, amazingly, Vladimir and Maria. In 1952, late in life and after so much suffering, they had a third child, the only one to survive: Vladimir Jr.

Vladimir Jr with his mother, Maria

Meanwhile, sixty years later, Putin has again been elected president.  A few weeks after the elections, the protests seem to be fading, the Snow Revolution is melting away.  Putin is at the helm and will be for awhile. Better? Worse?


Red Kirill says, "Of course worse. Everything is completely clear. The situation will deteriorate, you're going to have to be on the look-out at all times, if there's any way they can break you, they will. I am now facing existential decisions. Criminals are in power -- how am I supposed to live with this? Maybe I should sell my apartment and buy a cottage in the country so I can be left alone and pursue my art in peace?  You know the only thing that keeps me sane is that I have so much to do. I'm running from one event to the next, one project to the next. There's absolutely no time to think about what a disaster the whole country is in, how am I living, why am I living, what for? That's what's saving me."


Music Manaager Mischa retorts: "You're living on nothing, you're living for nothing, what can you do, let's have a drink!"


On the other hand, Russophile Nikita states, "Everything is in the best of order! Thank God Putin will be president again. And for six years. And hopefully another six years after that. In fact, I hope that when I die, a long time from now, Putin will still be president. And after I die, I hope he lives for another two hundred, three hundred years -- as President!"


When I point out the biological obstacles to that wish, he sighs and says, "Maybe doctors can do something in this special, important case?"

Roulettian Intermezzo - Photo of the Week

Footprints, Pigeon Prints -- Where is Everyone Going?

Imprisoned Billionaire and Released Red Kirill

I can recall October 2003. My last day as a free man. Several weeks after my arrest, I was informed that President Putin had decided I was going to have to "slurp gruel" for eight years. It was hard to believe back then. Seven years have already gone by since that day. Seven years -- quite a long stretch of time, and all the more so, when you've spent them in jail.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky during his final address to the court in 2010

One of the most roulettian characters in modern Russian times is Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He grew up in humble circumstances in Moscow, but displayed a knack for seizing profitable opportunities. He started a computer-import business in perestroika times, went on to found one of Russia's first privately owned banks, and became unfathomably wealthy in the chaotic 90s when ruthless oligarchs made untold fortunes while the general population became ever more impoverished -- in his case, he amassed vast sums in the Siberian oil fields as head of Yukos Oil. In fact, he was the wealthiest man in Russia with almost uncountable BILLLIONS of dollars and was the wealthiest man in the world under forty. 


It seems that around the turn of the millennium, Khodorkovsky underwent an ideological conversion. Unlike other oligarchs who squandered their money on extravagant parties, yachts and villas and purchased foreign soccer and basketball teams, Khodorkovsky founded a charitable organization supporting Russian non-profits and human rights groups and completely revamped Yukos, making it one of the most profitable and transparent companies in the country. And he funded the political opposition, something that in Putinian Russia could clearly not be done without repercussions. A strong warning came when his partner was arrested in July 2003. At this point, Khodorkovksy could have meekly backed down or escaped to join his billions abroad, but instead, realizing that imprisonment was virtually guaranteed, he went on a speaking tour, insisting that Russia must join the modern world. While underway, he was arrested in October 2003, charged with fraud and tax evasion, subsequently also with theft and money laundering, and as a result of two frequently described as "Kafkaesque" trials, the once wealthiest Russian has been slurping gruel in various jails and prison colonies around the country ever since, while showing a sense of decency and dignity that perhaps few expected. At this point, he is scheduled for release in 2015.

Meanwhile, there is news from Red Kirill. He’s out of the slammer after being detained for over 24 hours, ostensibly for participating in an unauthorized anti-Putin demonstration and not following police orders. So as originally planned, on Wednesday evening we all – Lawyer Misha, Spanish Teacher Tanya, Golden Retriever Konchik, Red Kirill, and I – go to Lawyer Misha’s dacha about fifty miles from Petersburg’s center. It’s holiday time again in Russia: this time they’re celebrating International Women’s Day and we have a four-day weekend ahead of us, which gives us plenty of opportunity to hear Kirill’s political adventures a number of different times. 

Misha's dacha (lacking running water but sporting a well and a bucket) with Konchik enjoying the snow

The short version of Kirill's travails is thus:

With his red clothing and dreadlocks highlighting him as a beacon of dissent, he was almost immediately pulled out of the crowd by two OMON guys at 7:15 on Monday evening and brought to a bus that was filling up with other detained protestors and bystanders. Documents were checked, a few people were released, but most of them – thirty or so in number -- were transported to a police station on the outskirts of town – "the other precincts had already reached capacity.“ 

As we walk along the frozen, snow-covered river, Kirill regales us with his adventures.

The detainees were brought into a large room, there was more waiting while documents were checked and protocols completed. Water and some food from police cupboards were provided, but there were no blankets or pillows, people built their nests for the night as best they could. Kirill slept on a raised, stage-like platform that was covered with utilitarian carpet. "I can sleep anywhere,“ he said, "For me this was not problem. I have such a sleep deficit! There’s always so much going on! No time to sleep. So if I’m not doing something I immediately crash.“

"The cops were okay. They said, 'we’re not the ones who arrested you, OMON made us take you, we’re just doing our job.' And the other people with me, they were super, no criminals, all upstanding activists, I could sit in jail with people like that for a month. Tea, food, good company, what more do you need?“

The other face of OMON

"Alexander Ivanovich Vorontsov, Cavalier of Three Orders of Courage.

Our Work is to Protect Citizens"

This poster at a bus stop has been partially pasted over with ads for a one-room $300 apartment; apartment renovation; an office dispatcher -- girl between the ages of 18 and 28; and Oksana: "waiting to meet you!"

The next morning it was back in the bus and off to the center of town for an appearance at the courthouse on Sadovya Street.

"But the courthouse was so jammed with detainees that we had to wait in the bus. It was amazing, all sorts of people came to support us, asked what we wanted, brought us coffee, tea, food from McDonalds. The police took us to the pizza joint in front of the bus when we needed to use the restroom. No problem. Just that it was so cold in the bus and we had to wait so long.“

All those detained (the police say close to 300, the protest groups claim almost 500) were charged with participating in an unauthorized demonstration and failing to follow police instructions. Perhaps some folks didn’t follow police instructions to disband but at certain places on the square it was hard to hear anything the police were saying, and it was clear, OMON was looking to grab people. One recalls Stalin’s famous thesis: "Get me the person, and we’ll find the article to charge him with.“

Speaking of Stalin, not far from Misha's dacha, on private property, stands a benevolent Stalin statue, graced with fake flowers.

"So after hours of waiting, I finally had my, ahem, night in court. We had the choice to either sign and go home, or not sign and who knows what would happen? I thought about refusing, but there was no guarantee that I’d be brought back to that same precinct, you can’t tell the police where to take you. I might have landed in a real jail with criminals and alkies, hell on earth. Plus I was in custody for over 26 hours – exhausting! So almost everyone signed, we were fined 500 rubles per charge, altogether 1000 rubles [about $30].“ 

Kirill slowly started winding down, "I told them all, I’m going to these demonstrations because Putin says we’re living in a democracy. So I’m exercising my democratic rights. If it’s a totalitarian state, tell me and I’ll act differently. Yeah, well, they basically shrugged their shoulders at that. No, I don’t feel like a hero. I feel like a real human being. Putin just got elected for another six years and I was sitting in jail.  That was the right place to be.“

Finally, a joke from jail:  "If you don’t want your vote to be stolen, vote for Putin.“

Roulettian Intermezzo - Photo of the Week

Winter Sun

The winter sun hangs low in the western sky over the bare branches of trees planted along the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment. Who, by the way, was Lieutenant Schmidt?  Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt served as a Lieutenant Commander in the Russian Imperial Navy, but became one of the leaders of a naval uprising during the unsuccessful revolution of 1905. Among other things, he encouraged the populace to stand up for human rights and urged the authorities to free political prisoners and to convene a Constitutional Assembly. As a result, he was sentenced to death after the uprising was squelched and shot on March 19, 1906.

Decembrist Hangings And Riot Police

Upon the ascension of Nicholas I to the throne in 1825, some 3,000 progressive Army officers, soldiers and citizens demonstrated in favor of a constitution and a representative form of government. But Nicholas was one of Russia's most reactionary Tsars. At the cost of over 1,000 casualties, he brutally suppressed the so-called Decembrist uprising and subsequently showed no mercy to the participants. Many were exiled to Siberia, and the five major leaders were sentenced to death by hanging. However, due to the inexperience of the executioner, the ropes snapped before the men expired.  One of the leaders, whose leg was broken by the fall, cried out, "They can't even hang a man properly in Russia!" Nonetheless, this lack of executional skill meant reprieve, the roulette wheel was spinning in their favor after all, because ancient tradition held that a victim of a botched execution was to be released. Or no? Nicholas overruled tradition, ordered new ropes, and the prisoners were hanged again, this time successfully. 

Meanwhile, the man next to me in the crowd nods towards the equestrian statue of Nicholas I in St Isaac's Square and says to his companion, "It's quite symbolic that these things are taking place under his gaze. He would have approved of such tactics." It's March 5, the day after the elections, and not only have crowds of people gathered in the square, but so have scads of OMON (the riot police) and suddenly, in a departure from past protests, the latter has become aggressive.

OMON gathers in St Isaac's Square with the statue of Nicholas I in the background.

It all started like the usual demonstrations of the past months. At 6 pm, people gathered on the square, chanted the favorite anti-Putin slogans ("Putin is a Crook" and "Russia without Putin"), and as usual, folks remained relatively civilized and well-behaved. 

A number of people wear masks, symbolizing their voicelessness and votelessness.

"What, HE'S hanging around again?  Is Russia really not tired of tsars, general secretaries, and presidents that don't leave?  We don't believe it!"

"Stable Evil Has Become Legitimate

I'm Crying Without Tears

5 March 2012"

Police officer addresses the crowd.

At about 7:00 p.m., a police officer with a handheld megaphone starts pronouncing instructions to the crowd that by this time has grown to about 3,000 people scattered in clusters around the square. Given the level of anti-Putin shouting combined with the bad quality of the megaphone, it's impossible to understand what he is saying even though he's only a few feet away. Suddenly, huge numbers of OMON start charging and with amazing rapidity, surround groups of people within their riot police grip. 

OMON forces charge while protestors and bystanders watch from in front of the Hotel Astoria

In a repeating process, two OMON grab one suspect out of the encircled crowd and haul him (or her) off to a waiting bus. They start with the most suspicious folk first -- i.e., those guys with the masks over their mouth are gone immediately. And then they continue on to the less overtly subversive. When they pull me out, I say in my best New York English, "I'm sorry, may I leave? I'm here here by accident."  They immediately let me walk and proceed to the next victim. 

The riot police haul off a victim.

Another person is hauled off, while yet more riot police await their deployment. 

OMON and girl with a bouquet of roses and baby's breath -- and a mask.

Thanks to cell phones, word of what's happening at the demo spreads rapidly.

As I retreat to what appears to be a less OMON-infected part of the square, I get a message from Red Kirill. He's been arrested. Well, that's not surprising given the circumstances. If anyone would seem suspicious to riot police, that would be Red Kirill in his alternative red clothing and dreadlocks.  I quickly call Lawyer Misha, who is not concerned. "Don't worry, " he says, "It's the usual thing. They'll let him out tomorrow. We all still be able to go to the dacha on Wednesday." Meanwhile OMON forces keep hauling people off to buses that have been parked around the square.

The crowd hovers, waits, watches, and from time to time chants "This is our city," "Police, stand with the people, don't serve a monster!" and "Shame! Shame! Shame!" 

Riot police on the square as it gets colder and darker.

Eventually OMON has hauled off all possible instigators (hundreds of people were detained), and it's getting chilly, so due to a combination of force and attrition, the demonstration dwindles to a close around 9 p.m.


But what about Red Kirill? I receive a text message around 10 pm: he is being held over night.  The next day, another message arrives, "They're taking me to court." And since then, no news. Well, surely he won't be sentenced to hanging or exiled to Siberia, but does this brusque crackdown after the elections imply an end to any pretense at liberalism, that there will be "no more Mr. Nice Putin?"  


PS:  Russophile Nikita explains, "Of course they're cracking down now. They let everyone demonstrate before the elections, but now there is no point. The country has shown that it is strongly behind Putin. So these protestors need to shut up, quit whining, and get with the program."

Lenin's Election and 4 March 2012

Free and fair elections have not had a long, rich or impressive history in Russia. The first one was held only in December 1917 under the leadership of Lenin:  a Constitutional Assembly was elected that was supposed to determine the new form of government for the country as the tsarist autocracy had crumbled under the force of revolution. Lenin assumed that his party would win which would strengthen his political position. When instead it only received a quarter of the vote, he quickly changed his mind about this election nonsense.  The Constitutional Assembly met one time, was thereupon forcibly disbanded by Lenin and that was the end of free and fair elections in Russia until Boris Yeltsin was elected president in 1991.


Meanwhile, Election Day has come to Russia!  On 4 March 2012 citizens voted to decide who would be president of Russia for the next six years.
.

Billboard advertising the elections: 

4 March, Russian Presidential Elections

Our Land, Our Election, Our President!

Loudspeakers at various strategic points remind the passing crowds that today is election day and every citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to vote.

By American standards, Russian election campaigns are incredibly restrained.  Once in awhile though, some verve appears.  The truck here, covered in red, white and blue balloons, displays the sign "The Admiralty District Votes!"

And indeed, people trotted off to the polls.  Election locales were spread across the city, usually in schools, universities, or other governmental institutions. They were clearly marked, and easily recognizable by the red banners proclaiming "Place to Vote," police officers in fur hats pacing in front, and the steady stream of people entering and exiting.

Typical voting locale in a school not far from Fontanka Canal, with red banner over the columns and police officers making sure the peace is held.

Interior of an average Petersburgian voting locale in a school, decorated for the day with a few clusters of red, white, and blue balloons. In the background, people are signing in. In the lower right hand corner the glass urn, decorated with the Russian double eagle, is already filling up with ballots. 

All locales were outfitted with web cams and often had several "observers" sitting and doing their observational job, as well as some bored police officers hanging out. Musical accompaniment was not rare. One school had a juvenile choir singing "You're the best, better than all the rest;" in another, music was piped in on a loud speaker, unusually, "Ave Maria."

 

The ballot, with each of the five candidates and a short description thereof. This ballot was cast for Prokhorov.

Voting is hard work, and every election locale has a modest assortment of food and non-alcoholic drink available for purchase at the "buffet" so one can appropriately recover from electional stress.

Patriotism was out in pretty full force and more than the usual number of Russian flags were flying around town.

Well, the results of this great presidential election are now in and there aren't any roulettian upsets here.  

Putin: 63.64%
Zyuganov: 17.18%
Prokhorov: 7.94%
Zhirinovsky: 6.22%
Mironov: 3.22%
Invalid votes: 1.16%
Voter turnout: 65.25%


It looks like Putin will be with us for at least the next six years.... Who can say at this point if it will be a good or bad thing?

Three Presidents and the Rapidly Approaching Elections

There haven't been many surprises in the presidential elections since Russia became a separate country in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. In fact, there have only been three presidents, Boris Yeltsin (1991-1999), Vladimir Putin (2000-2008, Roulettian Aside: Putin served briefly as Yeltsin's last Prime Minister from August to December 1999, under Yeltsin a far chancier position than president -- Putin was the fifth PM in eighteen months), and finally Dmitri Medvedev (2008-2012, during which time Putin was once again Prime Minister, this time around, a quite stable post).


Meanwhile, votes are going to be cast again. The next presidential elections are tomorrow, 4 March 2012. It's generally taken for granted that the number of Russian presidents will remain at three: in all likelihood, Vladimir Putin will win the election hands down and return to his previous employment as President of the Russian Federation. 

"4 March; Russian Presidential Elections

The President of the Russian Federation is a guarantee of the rights and freedoms of people and citizens"

There are five candidates in the race (with their rating in the 12 February poll in parentheses):

Vladimir Putin (United Russia, 55%)

Gennadi Zyuganov (Communist; ran against Yeltsin in 1996, Putin in 2000 and Medvedev in 2008, 9%)

Vladimir Zhirinovsky (loud, boisterous Liberal Democrat, knows little about PC; ran against Yelstin in 1996, Putin in 2000, and Medvedev in 2008, 8%)

Mikhail Prokhorov (Independent; billionaire (as is Putin), owner of the New Jersey Nets, 6%)
Sergei Mironov (Just Russia; ran against Putin in 2004, 5%)

Who is voting, who isn't? And for whom? Here is an informal, unscientific survey of friends and acquaintances.


Uralian Natasha: I can't vote. My ID has expired and I am not registered with the authorities here. I'm in trouble. I've got to get all of these bureaucratic problems taken care of.


Defense Lawyer Lena:  I'll probably vote for Prokhorov. Someone new, young, different. He's rich -- so maybe he won't steal from us. Since 1917 the government has been plundering the country. Almost 100 years! No wonder Russia's in the state it's in!


Red Kirill: Of course I'm going to vote! I'd vote for Prokhorov, he's good, but he isn't understood here. So we've got to vote for the guy who poses the strongest threat to Putin. That's Zyuganov.

"On 4 March, we're voting for Zyuganov. Power and property to the people!"

The orange sticker is advertising the removal of garbage -- cheap!

Neighbor Julia: I don't believe in the voting system in this country.

Guitarist Poet Dima: Vote? Are you kidding? You think it's necessary? You want that kind of enjoyment?  Standing in line for hours with a bunch of old ladies who don't understand anything. I'm not going to vote because I know that it's all useless.


Nanny Luda: There's no one to vote for. Prokhorov? I've listened to him. He may be rich, but he's not so smart. There's just no point. I'm not going to waste my time standing in line for nothing. It's a game and I'm not going to play it.

Don't Sell Your Vote!

A thousand ruble bill ($30) is pasted over the man's mouth

Rock Musician Slava: Vote? For whom? The opppostion?  It's not enough to be opposed to something you need to be FOR something!


Neighbor Oleg:  I haven't voted for ten years. I'm not interested in politics. It doesn't touch me. I just want them all to leave my life alone.


Magadan Slava: I'm not going to vote, I'm registered in another town -- it's not worth my time to go out there to vote. But if I were voting, I'd vote "against all." Putin did some good things for the country in his time, but now he's becoming too much like an emperor.  Although maybe that's what the Russians need. They don't understand democracy, they need someone to tell them what to do and how to do it. They can't figure it out themselves.


Journalist Yura: I have my standards. I'm voting for Prokhorov -- because he's the tallest of the bunch.

Zhirinovsky and It Will Be Better!

Teacher Tonya:  Fot Putin! Thanks to his programs, I got my apartment!


Teacher Sascha:  You know, we have questions for Prokhorov.  Where did he get so much money, what corruption was he involved with? No, I'm voting for Putin. Look at the state of the world now -- instability everywhere. I want someone with experience, someone who's powerful, who can do the job.

"V.V. Putin;

Your vote is needed for victory!"

Neighbor Olya: I'm not voting because I'm not registered here, but I'm for Putin. He keeps his word, he does what he says, you can count on him. People forget what a mess the country was in with Gorbachev and Yeltsin. We had to travel for miles with talons just to get food, there was nothing, nothing. He's built the country up, turned it around. Sure, it takes time, you can't fix a huge country like Russia over night. But he's on the right path.


Cameraman Yura: I don't vote. I don't believe in it.


Tour Guide Natasha: My friends and me, we aren't going to vote for anybody out of protest. W'e're going to sign the ballots, rip them and drop them in the urn.


Engineer Andrei:  For Putin. I want stability.


Real Estate Agent Inna:  There's no one, no one. But I guess I'll vote for Putin, just because he has experience. That young rich businessman -- what does he know about running a country? Putin has been in the government almost his entire adult life. So this is a preventative measure: just so it doesn't get worse. Well, of course it's going to get worse, but maybe not as worse as fast. 


Datscha Sergei: I'm not voting. I don't see the point.


Tour Guide Luda:  Vote? Not me. It's a circus. It doesn't mean anything.


Lawyer Misha: For those clowns?


Spanish Teacher Tanya:  I guess I'll have to vote for Prokhorov -- if my name is on the list. For some reason, it wasn't there for the parliamentary elections back in December. Strange, right?  Even suspicious. Want to hear something else? Dasha, my daughter, went to vote right when the polls opened at 8 am -- and there was already a whole layer of ballots in the urn. She pointed this out to the observers and they told her not to worry, said everything was fine.

"Mikhail Prokhorov, Our President

For a Time of Possibilities! For Attaining New Heights!

For a Future with Perspectives! For Mikhail Prokhorov!"

(Prokhorov should hire a designer who doesn't put black text on navy blue!)

Artist Vanya: I'm not going to vote. I don't understand politics. All I understand is that we are riding in a car that's been breaking down for years. Logic says that it's just going to break down more and more. 


Russophile Nikita:  You think that most people are against Putin because you gallivant with the artists and intellectuals in Petersburg. But let me tell you, highly esteemed Julietta, Russia is a huge country, Moscow and Petersburg are the exceptions. Everywhere else there are people like me. Putin is intelligent, he has experience, he's been highly trained. Yes, he was in the KGB -- and that's good.  Do you think the KGB takes fools and idiots? We don't want democracy, we don't want elections, We want Putin, we want a Tsar. And the sooner, the better. 


It's loud in the bar where later I run into Artist Igor at Tour Guide Inna's birthday party. I continue my informal survey but Igor clearly misunderstands my vital political question completely and starts explaining how best to roll joint.

Two Vladimirs -- an Ancient Prince and a Modern Emperor

How did Russia become Orthodox? That's a tale with a few roulettian twists of fate involving food and women.  Back in the grey mists of the tenth century, there lived the raucous Prince Vladimir. He built pagan temples, had five wives and hundreds of concubines, warred across vast territories, and for relaxation from the stress of battle, hunted and feasted. One day, Vladimir decided that his subjects should be united under a powerful religion -- but which one? He did some investigation. As a gourmand, Vladimir found the dietary restrictions of Islam and Judaism unpleasant. Catholicism was more to his taste, but what impressed him most was the dazzling richness of Byzantine worship. His ambassadors, returning from Constantinople, spoke in glowing terms of the glory of the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia, saying "we knew not whether we were in heaven on earth."  


If that wasn't enough, there was a woman involved.  The lovely Anna, sister of the Byzantine emperors Basil II and Constantine, agreed to marry Vladimir on the condition that he convert to Orthodoxy.  This was an offer not to be refused. Vladimir was baptized in 988 -- the year that is considered the official adoption of Christianity in Russia -- and married Anna in 989. Soon after, Vladimir demanded that his subjects adopt this new religion or be considered enemies of the kingdom. And thus, Orthodox Christianity came to Russia.

In Petersburg, the astounding Vladimirskaya Church with its five onion-shaped domes was built in honor of Prince Vladimir (he's since become a saint) and was consecrated on the 800th anniversary of his adoption of Christianity. This church has had its own ups and downs -- it was shut down in 1932 by the Bolsheviks and turned into an underwear factory. Happily, since then it has been beautifully restored and was reconsecrated in 1990.


Meanwhile, it was in the shadow of this church that protestors gathered on 26 Feburary to protest against a different Vladimir -- Putin.  In the lightly falling snow and bearable, only slightly sub-zero temperatures, some 5,000 people marched in a demonstration (the last one in Petersburg before the elections on 4 March), ending in front of Vladimirskaya Church on the square of the same name. They demanded fair and transparent elections, and called for honesty, dignity, a better life, freedom, and justice: This is our land, we aren't leaving, Russia without Putin. 

The demonstration started out not far from the Moskovskii Train Station, with scads of helmeted Special Forces in front and protestors behind the banner that reads "For Fair Elections."

As the procession crosses Nevskii Prospect, the city's main boulevard, regular police stand blocking off the entrance to Nevskii.  

Some of the innocent bystanders aren't quite sure what to make of the demonstrating rabble marching down the city streets.

 

"As the government is, so are the days and the souls"

"Basta! I don't want to crawl another twelve years on my knees! It's time to change the horse and the driver!"

The large crowd consisting of people of all ages assembles on Vladimirskaya Square in front of the church.

"Down with the power of capital! Give power to the majority!"

There are a lot of red flags fluttering, and as far as opposition to Putin goes, the Communists have a very slight edge over the other contenders but are still more than 40% behind Putin in the polls.

Putin as Napoleon: "Are you out of your mind, Emperor?"

A sign that needs no translation

"Putin, Get Lost. A Great Russia is Russia without Chekists [KGB]"

Despite wishful thinking on the part of some demonstrators, it seems unlikely that Putin will be screaming in despair after the results of the elections are made known. More plausibly, he'll be chortling over the prospect of his next imperial term -- and this time around, it will be for six years, not four.