Spirit of Millions

Until yesterday, the most popular event I had ever attended was the Moscow derby Spartak-CSKA in Luzhniki. But yesterday something more massive happened. I have never seen so many people gathered in one place before.




The rally starts from the metro. If there were a rating of stations based on the number of people wearing white ribbons there, then the Chekhovskaya station would confidently take first place. Escalators carried us up to Pushkin Square, where the procession began. In front of me was a group of people with flags and wearing T-shirts with the inscription: “Peter against Putin.” The first thing I saw was police vans lined up along the street. By the way, the law enforcement officers behaved correctly, politely asking not to stand in one place so as not to interfere with the passage of other protesters. Thousands of angry citizens gathered around the Pushkin monument. They handed out white ribbons, leaflets of various political forces and symbolic tickets for the paddy wagon, on which the price was written - 146 rubles. The saleswoman, whose stall was in the middle of the crowd, watched with interest everything that was happening.
There are metal detectors ahead. I asked the policeman standing next to them whether they should put their cell phone on the table. The re-certified person decided to joke: “And also weapons and drugs!”
One of the organizers stands near the metal detectors, using a megaphone to urge people of leftist views to go to the left side of the boulevard, and right-wing people to go to the right. All those who were undecided were sent to the center. That's where I went.
On the boulevard the column walked mockingly slowly. At the beginning it stood still. Seeing this, some tried to walk forward across the lawn. A pensioner of about 60 tried in vain, urging people to get off the lawns. Nobody listened to her.
On the right, nationalists chanted the traditional “One for all and all for one” and “Moscow without chocks”; on the left they carried red banners. Drums were beating everywhere.
A police helicopter began circling in the sky, and we all cheerfully greeted it. Finally, the column slowly moved forward.
In my opinion, the route chosen was unsuccessful. People made their way into the narrow streets as if through the neck of a bottle, this slowed down the procession.
Next is the ascent. The street was divided into two parts; it was no longer possible to walk through the center. I decided to go with the left. A man of about fifty walked towards me, saying: “I’ve already walked under red flags. I want some variety.”
We climbed to some elevation. And only from there I was able to appreciate the full scale of the procession; the end of the crowd was not even visible. The most interesting thing is that, looking ahead, I did not find the beginning of the procession, although all the time I thought that we were going somewhere at the beginning. Only a sea of ​​people spread before my eyes.
In the column of leftists they sang “Varshavyanka” and other revolutionary songs unknown to me, and next to me they carried a Cuban flag with the image of Che Guevarra. There was a smell of revolutionary romance. Some even managed to use fishing rods as a flagpole. Putin might have thought that we were holding a promotion for free recreational fishing. Residents of neighboring houses looked at us from their balconies and filmed us on their phones.
Gradually both columns unite, we approach Sakharov Avenue. The entrance to the neighboring streets was blocked by astronauts, better equipped than any hockey goalie.

Smooth, loud, booming chants of a crowd of thousands, the beating of drums and, finally, the very appearance of the entire procession - all this looked majestic and threatening. Probably, over the past 12 years, each of us has at least once imagined ourselves in Putin’s place. So, at the March of Millions it was scary to do this. It would be scary to look into the eyes of these people from whom you are trying to take away years of life, freedom and self-esteem.
PHOTOGRAPHY:

Pushkin unites people



we're going



we walk along the boulevard