Translated material
Rally
For the event, the station area was allocated-a place that the people are called "under the mitten" (due to the monument to the workers and the soldiers of the Volunteer Tank Corps: the worker stretches forward the palm in the mitten). The perimeter of the area was numbered by the police, the entrance inside was carried out through the framework of metal detectors-however, without any lists, rumors about which went the day before. Plastic dry closets were also installed on the square, and several field kitchens distributed porridge, bread and hot tea. For the speakers, a thorough scene with two large screens on the sides was built, behind it there was a zone for television people, on which several mobile television centers worked.
The people began to arrive at the area at about 13.00 - people appeared organized groups with the flags of their enterprises and banners: "Ural for stability", "Russia - only forward", etc. In the same spirit. Suitable people were entertained by nostalgic and patriotic songs. The hitch occurred when the workers of the Yekaterinburg "Uraltransmash" appeared on the square - they launched banners with the mention of Vladimir Putin, which the organizers asked to be removed. The fact is that public campaigning for candidates has not yet been allowed, and this could be interpreted by opponents as a violation of the election law. The banners were rolled up, but then, when the people were added, stretch marks with the name of Vladimir Putin arose here and there, stopped fighting this. In addition, the name of Vladimir Putin was mentioned many times from the stage - so there was no doubt in whose benefit the event was being held.
By 14.00, several thousand people gathered in the square. Observers and organizers are likely to disperse in estimates of the number. It is safe to say that there were more people than at the opposition rallies in Yekaterinburg. However, the area was not filled entirely (rather by a third or half). According to subjective estimates, about 8 thousand people could have on the square. At the same time, the organizers call the figure of 14-15 thousand, and the opposition suggests that about 5-6 thousand came (this is the opinion of the deputy of the city Duma Leonid Volkov).
The event began, as planned, at 14.00 with the performance of the leader of the Lube group Nikolai Rastorguev, who sang several hits (under the phonogram). Rastorguev’s performance was met by workers with enthusiasm, many began to dance and sing along, but when the musician switched from songs to words in support of the course of Vladimir Putin, the crowd at the stage became a little less often. Following Rastorguev, Igor Kholmansky, the Uralvagonzavod, spoke from the stage - the one that is considered the ideologist of the movement of the “Putin” workers who appeared in response to rallies on Bolotnaya and Sakharov. Kholmansky repeated the words that he would not allow himself and his colleagues "cattle". The organizers of the rally generally unwound the conflict between the workers and Internet users, the words about the “sloppy bloggers” sounded several times from the stage, “talkers and loafers” criticized, etc. However, to say that these performances met a very inspired reaction of people would be an exaggeration.
The crowd generally behaved calmly, and in some places even indifference-the speech-cried-uped “Ural-Russia-Putin” did not support, but she met the general words about stability and a strong country with a benevolent hum. Most of all, people reacted to mentioning from the stage of their native cities and enterprises, and most actively shouted in support of the Uralvagonzavod - the workers of the UVZ, apparently, was the most.
People came very different: there were intelligent, smart faces, sincere smiles (the workers that the enterprises of the UMMC-Holding seemed to me cordial). But there were enough gloomy, angry and dissatisfied, who were turning away from lenses and reacting to the proposal to talk with reporters Mother. They met frankly drunk, in several places in the crowd they drank vodka and cognac, overwhelmed into plastic bottles-rather “warm up” than to get drunk, but still drank. The workers directly said that the authorities asked to come, but in general they did not express irritations - apparently, no one broke anyone through his knee, who did not want to go - did not go. In addition, the electorate of Vladimir Putin really gathered at the rally - so why should they be very dissatisfied with them?
Other representatives of enterprises spoke about the Kholmansky - however, not so much hard workers as trade union leaders or even deputies of the State Duma from the machine. The most emotional (positive epithet - tear -off, negative - hysterical, choose yourself) was the performance of the Perm Tokar Valery Trapeznikov, who was elected a deputy of the State Duma on December 4, 2011. His scream from the stage surprised, it seems, even the workers themselves and caused bewilderment of journalists.
In the second half of the guests rally, Nadezhda Babkin entertained, under whose songs they began to dance in the square (it was also physiological necessity-it became difficult to stand still due to the cold). The rally ended with the collective execution of the anthem of Russia (words were shown on large screens, salted - all the same Babkin). After that, the crowd began to diverge, and sometimes too swiftly - in one place people who were eager to leave the square dared a metal fence, despite the cries of the police. The rally lasted about an hour.
The sensations from the rally are contradictory. From the point of view of propaganda, this is a fairly vivid answer to performances in Moscow - although the Ural rally turned out to be not as large as performances on Bolotnaya and Sakharov. From the point of view of the campaign of Vladimir Putin, the benefits are not obvious - many Yekaterinburgers, for example, were irritable to the event, because the capital of the Urals has long been an industrial city. First of all, an attempt to push two Russia - industrial and post -industrial, workers and “creative class”, “chanson Russia” and “Russia's Ifond” can even be concerned with each other, may even be Europe and Asia. Good political campaigns are not built in conflicts, they must consolidate society, and not disarm it.