[00:00:00] (Crowd singing-ru)
Changes! This is what our hearts desire.
Changes! We long for changes.
[00:00:23]
The past few weeks the Russian middle class has taken to the streets to protest against the lack of democracy and free elections.
The biggest popular protests in Russia in two decades have so far made little impression upon the man who has ruled the country for more than ten years.
On March the fourth Vladimir Putin is expected to win his third term as president of Russia.
Can the opposition protests become a threat to Putin’s power?
What lies ahead for the opposition?
And what is really left of the democracy which Russians attained after the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago?
[00:01:05] (Title)
RUSSIAN SPRING
[00:01:14]
The industrial city of Volgograd, 1000 kilometres south of Moscow was the site of World War Two’s bloodiest battle.
When the Red Army finally evicted the Germans from the city, named after Josef Stalin, more than two million people had lost their lives.
The memory of that battle has made the city a Communist stronghold.
Even today.
This evening the communists have invited their followers to another political meeting.
[00:01:45]
(marching band playing the march “Slavyanka”)
[00:01:55]
Patriotic marches and red flags still bring back emotions amongst those who grew up when the country was called The Soviet Union.
And the city’s name was Stalingrad.
[00:02:07] SOT – ru
Tamara Alekseyevna
Communist party member:
“We want things to be as they were before. When we respected each other and helped each other. Now dog eats dog. We have become divided.”
[00:02:22]
One of the leaders of the Russian Communist Party has arrived from Moscow with a call to arms.
To a new battle against their arch opponent: Vladimir Putin.
[00:02:34 SOT - ru:
Vladimir Kashin, Deputy president, The Russian Communist Party
“The Central Committee of the party regards you as the storm troopers of our forces, which have been mobilized to fight for the interests of the workers and our country.”
[00:02:46] SOT- ru:
“We want to restore a great Russian power, where the working man is the most important citizen. And where the State policy guarantees that the worker gets the respect which he deserves.”
[00:03:02]
92 year old Vadim Turov still carries his army uniform with pride..
He is one of two remaining soldiers who survived the Nazis’ siege of Stalingrad, and who fought for the future of socialism in this city 69 years ago.
(File footage from The Battle of Stalingrad)
[00:03:33]
For, him it was all but unthinkable that the Soviet Union should ever fall apart.
[00:03:40] SOT- ru
Vadim Turov
War veteran, The Battle of Stalingrad
“It was impossible and unthinkable. We were thinking the sky would sooner fall down. It was not possible. The Soviet Union was a nation which the entire population supported and defended. From the smallest children to the elderly.”
(Music:Hymn of the Soviet Union, 1943 version. Open Source version.
File footage from building of the Volgograd Hydroelectric Power Plant)
[00:04:10]
In one generation Josef Stalin transformed this impoverished and mainly agrarian country into a nuclear superpower.
By using hundreds of thousands of forced workers, he started enormous construction projects.
Such as this five kilometre long concrete dam, which slices across the Volga river.
To build it, the workers had to dig out a massive new temporary channel for the river.
The price for his unscrupulous industrialisation was more than 20 million human lives.
(---)
[00:04:57]
Still, for loyal communists like Vadim, that December day 20 years ago, when the Communist State was dissolved was like the end of the world.
[00:05:05] SOT - Ru
Vadim Turov
War Veteran, The Battle of Stalingrad
“It felt like dying. Not in physical sense, but psychologically.
That day, I couldn’t feel myself. I started calling around to different organizations and people I knew. I said: “This can’t be happening. This is treason!” It was impossible to understand. That the Soviet Union could cease to exist. No! But that was exactly what has happened.”
[00:05:45]
20 years later, the Communist party is still a strong force in Russian politics.
In Volgograd the party’s deputy president welcomes fresh members with a handshake and a diploma.
[00:05:57] SOT-ru:
Vladimir Kashin,
Deputy president, The Russian Communist Party
“Look at our fine youth!”
[00:06:01]
Even though they still have the support of around 20 per cent of the population,
the Communist party has a big problem.
Their traditional voters are dying.
With the presidency race heating up, it is more important than ever for the party to attract the younger voters.
[00:06:16] SOT-ru
Julia Polikova
1.Secretary, Communist Youth Organisation Komsomol
“On this poster you can see our impression of a typical Communist Party voter: Young, healthy and energetic. Our voters have many plans for the future. They want to live good lives and they will live good lives.”
[00:06:29]
The local leader of the Communist Youth Organization never experienced life in the Soviet Union.
But the stories she has heard from her parents and grandparents have convinced her that everything was better in the old days.
[00:06:44] SOT-ru
Julia Polikova
1.Secretary, Communist Youth Organisation Komsomol
-“The Soviet Union was always a democracy.”
-“It was?”
-“Of course it was.”
-“What kind of democracy was that, with only one party?”
-“It was still a democracy because people were allowed to decide for themselves. Today they cant’. We have no democracy in our country.”
[00:07:11]
In a few weeks the Russians go to the polls again.
But according to the opposition, this will be no real election.
In the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg communists have joined forces with liberals, nationalists and anarchists to demand more freedom and democracy.
But their opposition to Vladimir Putin is so far the only thing uniting them
[00:07:41] SOT-ru
Tatyana
Protester
“We don’t want them to regard us as cattle. Our patience has run out.”
[00:07:47] SOT-ru
Sergey
Protester
“Putin is bad”
“Do you think he will listen to you?”
“If we yell loud enough, he’ll hear us”
[00:07:57] SOT-ru
Dimitry
Protester
“The cup is full. It is flowing over. Before, all these people were thinking they had enough with their work and family. They didn’t have time for stuff like this. But now, everybody has had enough.”
[00:08:10] SOT-ru
Tatyana
Protester
“The regime is now testing out how repressive it can be. If things get worse, it will be clear to all: We live in a dictatorship.”
[00:08:19] SOT-ru
Crowd
“Give us free elections!”
[00:08:24]
In Russia today it is impossible for large parts of the opposition to even participate in politics.
[00:08:31] SOT-Ru
Crowd
“Putin must resign!”
[00:08:36]
Politicians, whose points of view are not sanctioned by the Kremlin, do not get air-time on national, state controlled TV.
And the authorities also use more direct methods to limit the amount of opposing voices.
[00:08:54]
In this parking lot in central Moscow, members of the party “The Other Russia” have gathered to put their name on a list in order to nominate their candidate for the presidency.
The reason they’re meeting inside a bus, is that the Police showed up and closed down the entire hotel where they were planning to meet and discuss their campaign.
[00:09:13] SOT-Ru
Alexander Averin
Member of the Central Committee, The Other Russia.
“This morning we weren’t allowed into the building. Even if we had an agreement and had paid for a conference room here at the hotel. They just told us that repair work was going on and the police closed the entrance, so that we couldn’t even get into the lobby.
Our conclusion is that there has been political pressure on the Police and the hotel management. “
[00:09:36]
Despite these politicians’ ability to improvise, their candidate, writer Edward Limonov is still rejected by the powerful National Election Commission a few days later.
The reason given is, as usual; formal registration errors.
[00:09:55]
This is a measure opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has also experienced several times.
[00:10:01] SOT -En
Boris Nemtsov
Co-president, People’s Freedom Party
“The Oppositon has no chance to be registered. Opposition has no chance to be registered as a party and opposition has no chance to register a candidate. And that is why this is no election and I believe we’ll continue our campaign: Vote for Russia - Vote Against Everybody!”
[00:10:18]
The former Deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin has decided not to run for president in March.
He simply doesn’t believe it is worth the effort trying.
Even if he should pass through the initial scrutiny of the government controlled Election Commission, massive bureaucratic and practical hurdles await anyone who wants to register as a candidate.
[00:10:39] SOT-En
Boris Nemtsov
Co-president, People’s Freedom Party
“We need to collect two million – two million signatures. Not in Moscow but throughout the country in 50 regions. And not in three months, but in one month, from the second half of December to the second half of January.
Investigators will [then] check all of these signatures. And if these investigators find some wrong signatures, this is an opportunity to fire you and to cancel your registration.”
[00:11:27]
But to ensure a predictable playing field before the elections, The Kremlin has even more powerful tools it can use to silence its most vehement critics.
[00:11:43]
This is Yevgenia Chirikova.
She has become one of Russia’s most influential oppositionists after her unyielding criticism of the government over the planned construction of a highway through a popular recreational area outside Moscow.
[00:12:02] SOT-ru
Yevgenia Chirikova
Opposition leader
“When he shows off his torso to increase his political standing, it looks merely pitiful.
But except for what he has stolen and shared with his oligarch buddies, Putin has nothing to brag about”
[00:12:24]
The reaction to her harsh criticism of Putin was swift.
First, her family business was driven to the brink of bankruptcy after the Police wrote letters to banks and local entrepreneurs asking them not to do business with an extremist such as her.
[00:12:40] [SOT-ru]
Yevgenia Chirikova
Opposition leader
“Then we discovered one day that someone was following us. I didn’t see them but the children had a talent for discovering them. It became clear we were being monitored by the Secret Police’s Special Branch for combating extremism.”
[00:12:54]
Later representatives from the authorities came to her home to take her children away.
[00:13:00] SOT-ru
Yevgenia Chirikova
Opposition leader
“Officials from Child Services came to my house and accused me of mistreatment of my my children. They said I didn’t feeed them and was generally mistreating them. They said my house was supposedly full of homeless people and on the basis of this anonymous information they had filed a report with the Police. They wanted to take me away and put me in jail.”
[00:13:25]
With no opportunity to defend herself, Yevgenya posted a desperate plea for help on the Internet.
The overwhelming support she received is a testament to her popularity.
Thousands of supporters called the local authorities to complain about her treatment.
That same night all charges were dropped.
For Chirikova, this experience was just one more example, that the ghost of Stalin still haunts The Kremlin’s corridors.
[00:13:52] SOT-ru
Yevgenia Chirikova
Opposition leader
“I understood then that in our country, everything can happen. We still have political prisoners. They can make up all kinds of charges against you and just put you in jail for life. And once there, you will remain in jail.”
[00:14:29]
Chirikova’s brave resistance to the Government, has been a source of inspiration to the thousands who have ignored the fear of a crackdown and taken to streets across Russia.
But it was people like Timothy who played the biggest role in dragging the Russian middle class off their collective sofa.
Using the Internet Timothy and others beat the Government’s censorship and got the opposition’s message across.
[00:14:58] SOT-en
Timothy Tsvetkov
Internet activist
“Everybody uses Twitter. You can use ut anywhere, on the street because we have 3G internet. So you can easily write blog. And also it is very easy to take a photo or video and share it.”
[00:15:13]
Amid several attempts to silence or censor even social media like Twitter, Timothy and his friends have so far managed to remain one step ahead of the authorities.
[00:15:23] SOT-en
Timothy Tsvetkov
Internet activist
“Social networks for now in the whole world is best way to organize people to do something together and share your thoughts. It's very very fast. And information grows very very fast. It’s very important to tell people what you think and what is going on as fast as possible. And social networks are very good for that, because people can just push one button. Share, share, like and share.”
[00:15:53]
Timothy and his crew are now determined to create a Russian Spring.
Or - an Awakening, as Timothy calls it.
[00:16:04] SOT-en
Timothy Tsvetkov
Internet activist
“People were sleeping. Sleeping and they were frightened. Elections turned out to be absolutely not fair. And people decided they can't live with it any more. They woke up.”
[00:16:56]
After a 20 year long political coma, the Russian people have now given the ruling elite a clear message: They won’t take in any more.
The question remains how will Putin respond?
Opposition leader Nemtsov, thinks a new Russian revolution is destined to become bloody.
[00:17:16] SOT-en
Boris Nemtsov
Co-president, People’s Freedom Party
“The Russian people have a very complicated history. And sometimes terrible. And according to our tradition we can wait for many years. But suddenly in one moment there will be an explosion. I understand now that Russia will now never have such a thing as velvet revolution. We have bloody, brown red revolutions.
[00:17:43]
The main dilemma of the Russian opposition remains.
Who will lead the revolution, and what do they want instead of today’s autocratic rule.
Will it be a return to the Communists’ Workers’ Paradise?
Will it be the nationalists’ dream of a strong Russia for Russians?
Or has the time finally come for an open Russian democracy, where every vote counts?
[00:18:10] SOT-en
Boris Nemtsov
Co-president, People’s Freedom Party
“Putin is not unique. He is like every dictator in the world.
The problem is not about him. The problem is about Russia. If people can’t change the system by going to the polls. People go the streets.”
[00:18:32]
[00:18:56] (End credits)
Directed and written by
Øystein Bogen
Camera and video editing
Aage Aune
Research
Tatyana Ivanova
Music Score
Olav Øyehaug
Narrator
Anthony Hill
© TV2 Norway
[00:19:26] (fade to black)