The Imperials Strike Back

On February 4 in Moscow, not only an “ice march” is planned - a civil procession for fair elections along Yakimanka in severe frost , but also in even more severe frost - an “ice rally” so-called. “anti-Orange” forces on Poklonnaya Hill.
In even more severe frost - no reservation. Every Muscovite knows that Poklonnaya Gora is an elevated, open and windy place. And therefore it feels several degrees colder there.
The website of the rally has already started working - http://www.anti-orange.ru/ . For some reason, on a gray background there is a white hand strangling a decorative orange snake. Whether there is a hint here of the “white glove” of the Nashists or the label of “decorativeness” and “glamor” pinned by official propaganda on the activists of Bolotnaya Square and Sakharov Avenue is difficult to say.
Among the organizers of the rally are the “Essence of Time” movement (an association of like-minded people who share the views of Sergei Kurginyan, expressed in the television program of the same name), the Regional Public Fund for Support of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of the Russian Federation named after General E.N. Kocheshkova, Congress of Russian Communities.
“Our rally is not for or against any politician, our rally is for Russia, for our country to be strong and independent, without turning into a toy in foreign hands, as it already was in the 90s. If you want to see Russia strong, free and independent, come to Poklonnaya Hill on February 4!” - says the appeal on the website.
In this demagoguery “our rally is neither for nor against” lies slyness. Let’s say that the same Sergei Kurginyan for many years still managed to mislead certain naive people: they say, I am, of course, against the “liberals,” but I am not “pro-Kremlin” either. But the long-time leader of the Congress of Russian Communities, Dmitry Rogozin, has been a major government official for many years now, and now a deputy prime minister for the defense industry.
As for the composition of the speakers at the “anti-Orange” rally, the long and close ties of most of them not just with the abstract “Kremlin”, but with its conservative and even reactionary towers are an open secret for politicized citizens.
In addition to Sergei Kurginyan, this is Vladimir Dolgikh (the same one is a former candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, an active fighter against the Anti-Soviet kebab shop, and now the oldest State Duma deputy, of course, from “United Russia”), the host of the TV program “However” Mikhail Leontyev , another television propagandist - Andrey Karaulov, long-time fighters against the “orange plague” - Nikolai Starikov, Natalia Narochnitskaya, Alexander Prokhanov, Maxim Shevchenko, Maxim Kalashnikov...
Among the speakers is Anatoly Wasserman, who already spoke at Kurginyan’s previous counter-rally on Vorobyovy Gory (beware! controversial photo ). But he most likely will not come due to a cold. Also, site visitors are invited to vote for the candidacy of writer Eduard Bagirov, which causes dissatisfaction with some well-known “patriotic” bloggers . As, indeed, is the candidacy, in their words, of Yegor Kholmogorov, who “finally got involved in national democracy”...
However, everything would be fine - every citizen has the right to both express his opinion at a rally, even in the bitter cold on a windy mountain, and to respect other citizens or be indignant at their views. But - only on condition of voluntariness. And more and more statements are appearing on the Internet that people will be brought to the “Kurginyanovsky” rally this time against their will - after all, “extras” are needed for the “picture”.
Let us recall that an employee of the United Energy Company (UEC), on condition of anonymity, told Publicpost that February 4 was declared a working day in this organization, and the entire team would take part in a demonstration in support of Putin on Poklonnaya Hill. “We were instructed: on the 4th we are going to a demonstration with placards. The rally will be in support of Putin. Like “ordinary people for Putin”. Gathering by 12.00. The rally itself until 5 pm. The day will be paid as a working day.” Employees of a number of other organizations also stated similar things.
But this - forcing people, already tormented by a depressive winter, to freeze to the speeches of Prokhanov and Narochnitskaya at the risk of their health on a day off - is somehow not good.