Benoît Vitkine, correspondent of the newspaper "Le Monde" in Russia, returns Friday at noon to the microphone of Europe 1 on the protest movement which agitates the country at the moment, while new demonstrations are planned Sunday.

With, in figurehead, Alexeï Navalny, activist more determined than ever to overthrow the regime of Vladimir Poutine.

ANALYSIS

Times are troubled in the Russia of Vladimir Putin: the repressive system is challenged by Alexeï Navalny, an opponent of mad audacity, with revelations and denunciations on social networks.

The activist and his supporters launched new calls for a protest on Sunday, despite the mass arrests over the weekend and the continued detention of Navalny and his relatives.

On Europe 1, Friday noon, journalist Benoît Vitkine, correspondent for

Le Monde

in Russia, analyzes the scope and limits of this social movement.

A mobilization "not completely unprecedented"

To imagine the importance of the current dispute, "there is a sign that does not deceive", observes Benoît Vitkine.

"It is to see Vladimir Putin constantly commenting on Alexei Navalny's deeds and gestures. When he was still in Berlin, a few months after his poisoning, Alexei Navalny began to document this poisoning himself and to designate the FSB as Navalny, then, returned to Russia with this explosive video in his luggage on Putin's palace (an extremely luxurious house that the Russian president would hold on the shores of the Black Sea, note). Twice, Putin had to He has always taken care never to name this opponent and now he finds himself constantly having to give his opinion or justify himself to accusations coming from him. "

"

There is still a large part of Russians who trust Vladimir Putin

"

Alexei Navalny, imprisoned since returning to Russia, has since sparked protests in many cities across the country, including in remote areas of the Urals and Siberia.

However, "what we saw in the street is not completely new", judges the correspondent of the

World

.

"These are important events, but they are in orders of magnitude of what we know."

If, according to him, these are the biggest illegal demonstrations for 20 years and the beginnings of the Putin era in Russia, "it is not tides of human beings that defy the Putin regime".

Navalny "worries the Russian authorities", but ...

Faced with these opponents, the entire repressive apparatus of the Vladimir Putin regime is mobilized.

Police officers arrest, judges convict and imprison.

For Benoît Vitkine, it is a sign that we see "a little excitement" on the side of power.

"For a long time, the Kremlin explained that this blogger, since that's how he is called, was worth nothing. When we see the luxury of precautions that surrounded his return and this poisoning, at the very least, we see that this is obviously false and that Navalny worries the Russian authorities. "

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However, the current atmosphere and the attitude of the regime generate in many citizens a feeling of "fear", underlines the journalist, while the people have not entirely turned their backs on their leader, far from it.

"There is still a large part of Russians who either trust Vladimir Putin or fear the very idea of ​​change. Part of the Russians have decided to let go of all these dirty things once and for all."

In this configuration, will Alexeï Navalny succeed in overthrowing the regime of Vladimir Putin?