The Russian Spring

The Russian Spring Protests have continued on an unprecedented scale and internet activists have awakened a politicised middle class. But with its bloody history, can a Russian revolution cut through the Kremlin's iron grip?
"The opposition has no chance to be registered; as a party or a candidate", Boris Nemsov, Co-President of the People's Freedom Party, tells us. The opposition are required to jump through endless hoops to qualify and if they do they are simply told there are "formal registration errors". And the Kremlin has even more powerful tools it can use to silence its critics. Yevgenia Chirikova had her children taken and was thrown in jail, until petitions by thousands of supporters caused her charges to be dropped. "I understood then that in our country everything can happen. We still have political prisoners." The opposition aren't backing down though. In fact many are turning to new methods. Inspired by the Arab Spring, Timothy Tsvetkov has been waking people up to corruption through social networking. Already he has beaten the Government's censorship and brought the middle classes into the political arena. According to Boris Nemtsov, this Russian awakening could mean trouble. "We can never have a velvet revolution in this country. Our revolutions are bloody, brown and red."
FULL SYNOPSIS

This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. For more info see our Cookies Policy