Tens of thousands demonstrated in the easternmost city of Khabarovsk, challenging the authority of President Vladimir Putin, in the context of massive protests continuing for the third week to condemn the arrest of the governor of the region.
The crowds marched yesterday in the center of Khabarovsk (6100 km southeast of the capital, Moscow), and chanted slogans including "Putin a thief" and "Putin boarded", and they uploaded pictures of the region's governor, Sergey Foragl, who was arrested by the authorities early this month on charges of assassinating a businessman 15 years ago, and he is now Under trial in Moscow.
This is the second demonstration in Khabarovsk, with tens of thousands participating in the past few weeks, and it was striking that Russian security forces did not interfere to disperse these unlicensed demonstrations.
While the city authorities estimated the number of participants in the demonstration yesterday at 6500, the local media estimated their number at about 20,000. While other media and opponents have spoken of 50,000, and confirmed that this protest is the largest of its kind to date.
Ongoing protests in Russia’s Far East were described as the largest in years, and appeared to challenge the power of Putin, who was finally able to pass constitutional amendments allowing him to remain in power until 2036.
Political accusations The
protesters see the accusations against the arrested governor of their region, Vergal, as political, not criminal, and they reject the new governor, Mikhail Digtyarev, who was recently appointed by Moscow. They also demand the return of the arrested ruler from Moscow and his trial in his city.
They also consider the arrest of Vergal - who belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party and is very popular in the region - as a retaliatory response to power because he defeated the candidate of the ruling United Russia party in local elections in 2018.
The new governor, Mikhail Degtyarev, belongs to the Forgal party himself, and Digtiyarev has rejected calls to step aside, saying that the mass demonstrations do not reflect the wider public opinion in the region.
The ongoing protests in Khabarovsk highlight the outrage of many residents from the policies decided by the Moscow central authority regarding their region.
Other regions in Russia, including the capital, Moscow, had previously witnessed separate protests, but the authorities managed to contain them, and subsequently arrested a number of opposition leaders.