In the name of Putin

“Our people” are gathering rallies and traffic jams for the second time in a week

Muscovites are having to pay the price for the crushing victory of United Russia in the State Duma elections under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin. Since the beginning of the week, pro-Kremlin youth movements have been celebrating the victory of the national leader almost non-stop. Moreover, they prefer to congratulate their idol and senior party comrades not on the outskirts, but in the center of the capital, at the height of the week, which may have become a day off for the triumphants, but not for the voters. Such festivities, pickets and rallies of “Nashi” and “Young Guard” cannot but irritate ordinary people, since the gathering of several thousand people in the city center requires a change in traffic, which is fraught with traffic jams, and strengthening the security regime, attracting additional police forces.

Despite the fact that the winter session is just around the corner, the young loyalists, the core of which are university students, do not intend to stop. Today, for the second time in a week, the “Nashi” movement plans to organize a rally on Vasilyevsky Spusk near the Kremlin walls. As Nashi press secretary Kristina Potupchik told Vremya Novostey, this time it is planned to gather about 30 thousand activists to “congratulate the President of Russia on the victory of his course in the elections” and offer United Russia projects in youth policy developed by the movement . These plans do not bode well for the capital’s motorists, since traditionally this will mean closing Varvarka Street and the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge and changing traffic along Bolotnaya Street. All this guarantees traffic jams in the surrounding areas.

Let us recall that this Monday Moscow already experienced the first victorious appearance of young people on the streets with Putin, if not in their hearts, then certainly on their coat, T-shirt or scarf. While “Ours” rejoiced on Vasilievsky Spusk, on the same day about 5 thousand activists of the “Local” movement gathered on Slavyanskaya and Lubyanka squares, and activists of “Young Russia” gathered on Pushkinskaya. On Tuesday, several thousand “Young Guards” celebrated the victory of “national leader” Vladimir Putin already on Manezhnaya Square. A Vremya Novostei correspondent saw Muscovites and guests of the capital trying to get through the blocked square to the Teatralnaya metro station, but the police officers guarding the riotous joy of the Young Guard did not allow anyone to enter the metro. Yesterday afternoon, the red and white banners of “Nashi” again filled the center, and in office buildings near Bolotnaya Square the glass was shaking from sounds from the street - young people decided to dilute the celebration of the victory of United Russia with a rally at the British Embassy. As follows from the loud cries, young people spoke out against those who, in the words of their idol, were “jackaling around the embassies,” and demanded the recall of Ambassador Anthony Brenton, who, in their opinion, had compromised himself by participating in the “Other Russia” conference.

“Nashi” do not feel any embarrassment over the fact that for a significant part of Muscovites all these manifestations of loyal feelings may cause inconvenience. Moreover, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent, Kristina Potupchik took the reproach about blocking the streets as an insult. “We celebrated Putin’s victory!” - she was indignant and immediately assured that all the movement’s actions were authorized by the mayor’s office.

The leader of the United Russia faction, Andrei Metelsky, seems to be convinced that Muscovites can tolerate this. Although he doesn’t really like the idea of ​​holding protests of many thousands in the center of the capital on weekdays. “By and large, such actions must be carried out in such a way that they do not disturb Muscovites. If it enters the system, it is wrong, but once it is possible. I don’t see any political subtext here,” he told Vremya Novostey. It is noteworthy that United Russia members still periodically have thoughts about the need to more strictly regulate the regime of street closures in connection with rallies or mass celebrations in the center. For example, in 2005, the head of the Moscow City Duma Security Committee, Inna Svyatenko, promised to raise the issue with the authorities about banning such actions on weekdays. That day, she was just standing in a traffic jam with ordinary motorists and was late for the press conference because of another concert organized on Vasilyevsky Spusk in the middle of the week. However, for now the matter is limited to such emotional statements.

In turn, oppositionists from the capital’s parliament note that the mayor’s office and law enforcement agencies are very selective in drawing conclusions about which event interferes with the normal life of the city. As Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the Yabloko-United Democrats faction, emphasized in a conversation with a Vremya Novostey correspondent, his party cannot obtain permission to hold rallies on Vasilyevsky Spusk at the mayor’s office. “When we want to hold some kind of action, they tell us that we are disturbing Muscovites,” he complained. “But “Ours” are allowed everything.” According to the deputy, if pro-Kremlin youth really couldn’t bear to congratulate their older comrades, then they should not be allowed into the center of the capital, but sent, for example, to the Taras Shevchenko embankment, as was done with the “Russian March”. There, Mr. Mitrokhin believes, one can praise Vladimir Putin for hours on end without creating any particular disruption to working Muscovites.

Sergei Mitrokhin’s words about the selectivity of power were unwittingly confirmed by the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate. The police officers, whose responsibilities include maintaining order at these rallies, reacted surprisingly calmly to the fact that they received more in the last week of work. The press service of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate could not clarify what costs the city treasury bears on attracting additional law enforcement forces, but assured that mass events of pro-Kremlin movements do not create any special problems. “The police officers are assisted by activists of these movements, who themselves voluntarily monitor the observance of public order at the event,” the Central Internal Affairs Directorate told Vremya Novostey. But “the organizers of opposition socio-political events during rallies provoke participants to disobey the police with their calls.”

Kirill MELNIKOV