Home
Politics
"I don't like being lied to," said 33-year-old Yevgeny, an actor. "We've been lied to before, but this time people have had enough."
He was hoping for a recount of the votes or even fresh polls, he added.
Police ushered people through dozens of metal detectors as riot squads patrolled the nearby embankment. Some people dangled from trees, taking pictures and trying to estimate the size of the massive rally: organisers put the attendance at 80,000 people.
But the police did not act against the peaceful, high-spirited rally, as protesters shouted slogans such as "Russia without Putin!" and "Churov, go to jail!" a reference to Russia's central election commission chief.
Young women handed out white tulips and daisies, and many people tied white ribbons -- the campaign emblem -- to their lapels, to show their support for calls to annul Sunday's parliamentary polls because of fraud.
People braved freezing temperatures and a steady fall of snow, spilling out from the square onto a pedestrian bridge and across to the opposite river bank.
"Crooks and thieves!" the crowd roared, turning to face the Kremlin.
"Give up your seat!" people shouted at politicians from the Communist and A Just Russia parties, which both won seats in the next parliament, urging all parties to reject the vote results.
And they greeted a speech by nationalist ideologue Konstantin Krylov with a chorus of boos.
Liberal Yabloko party members spoke from the same stage as Krylov at a rally that appeared to include everyone except Putin's United Russia party, which won Sunday's parliamentary elections.
"Our society has been going backwards for 12 years," said Leonid Parfyonov, a top television journalist of the 1990s. He was fired in 2004 for breaching censorship on a state channel.
"It's time to go forward again, taking small steps," he added. "We've sung enough praises to one person for all these years."
Some protesters drew parallels with the political awakening of the 1990s.
"I defended the parliament building in 1993 from tanks," said Gennady, a 65-year-old former education official and a Communist.
"This is similar in numbers and its unanimity to the rallies of the early 1990s, but the goals are different.
"The regime must work honestly or leave," he said. "Most people don't trust their fancy words any more. It's becoming a mass phenomenon, and it's great to see so many young people here."
Some young people wore carnival-style masks and held up badminton rackets, making fun of a much-mocked video on Dmitry Medvedev's official blog showing him and Putin playing a limp game of badminton.
"I am tired of complaining over the Internet. I wanted to move my behind from the computer and come to this rally," said Dmitry, 34, who called himself an apolitical office clerk.
"I hope this rally will be noticed."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He was hoping for a recount of the votes or even fresh polls, he added.
Police ushered people through dozens of metal detectors as riot squads patrolled the nearby embankment. Some people dangled from trees, taking pictures and trying to estimate the size of the massive rally: organisers put the attendance at 80,000 people.
But the police did not act against the peaceful, high-spirited rally, as protesters shouted slogans such as "Russia without Putin!" and "Churov, go to jail!" a reference to Russia's central election commission chief.
Young women handed out white tulips and daisies, and many people tied white ribbons -- the campaign emblem -- to their lapels, to show their support for calls to annul Sunday's parliamentary polls because of fraud.
People braved freezing temperatures and a steady fall of snow, spilling out from the square onto a pedestrian bridge and across to the opposite river bank.
"Crooks and thieves!" the crowd roared, turning to face the Kremlin.
"Give up your seat!" people shouted at politicians from the Communist and A Just Russia parties, which both won seats in the next parliament, urging all parties to reject the vote results.
And they greeted a speech by nationalist ideologue Konstantin Krylov with a chorus of boos.
Liberal Yabloko party members spoke from the same stage as Krylov at a rally that appeared to include everyone except Putin's United Russia party, which won Sunday's parliamentary elections.
"Our society has been going backwards for 12 years," said Leonid Parfyonov, a top television journalist of the 1990s. He was fired in 2004 for breaching censorship on a state channel.
"It's time to go forward again, taking small steps," he added. "We've sung enough praises to one person for all these years."
Some protesters drew parallels with the political awakening of the 1990s.
"I defended the parliament building in 1993 from tanks," said Gennady, a 65-year-old former education official and a Communist.
"This is similar in numbers and its unanimity to the rallies of the early 1990s, but the goals are different.
"The regime must work honestly or leave," he said. "Most people don't trust their fancy words any more. It's becoming a mass phenomenon, and it's great to see so many young people here."
Some young people wore carnival-style masks and held up badminton rackets, making fun of a much-mocked video on Dmitry Medvedev's official blog showing him and Putin playing a limp game of badminton.
"I am tired of complaining over the Internet. I wanted to move my behind from the computer and come to this rally," said Dmitry, 34, who called himself an apolitical office clerk.
"I hope this rally will be noticed."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
