Moscow closed a white ring

The “Big White Circle” campaign in Moscow took place. About half of the third Moscow time, the white ring on the inside of the garden ring closed.

Photo: Evgeny Feldman - "New"

The promotion through the eyes of our correspondents:

• "Moscow held hands, demanding honest elections." Photo report by Anna Artemyeva

• “Closer to the Culture Park, I notice people with red hearts“ Putin loves everyone. ” Several gazelles drive up to the RIA Novosti office, the guys with signs are poured from them: “A week before Putin’s victory.” Shout: “You have an unauthorized action!”, “Only Putin, only victory!” . Note on the provocation of the "Putins" and the impressions of Valeria Grechina

• "You are four months old, and you are in the ring for honest elections." Special correspondent of Novye Elena Kostyuchenko recorded conversations in the "Big White Circle"

The action was invented by the movement "For honest elections" and "Voter League." However, no organization implied - there was only an idea to come to Sadovoye on Sunday and take hands: “We stood on Bolotnaya and Sakharov. We drove around the garden. We walked along the Yakimanka. Our requirements are still not fulfilled. On February 26, we will surround the city center with a living ring. Exactly at 14:00 we will go out onto the garden ring, stand on the sidewalk on the inside of the ring and take each other's hands, ”the Facebook page says.

The action did not require coordination with the authorities, the mayor of Moscow the day before promised that the police would behave correctly. Buses with riot police stood in a chain at the red gate, the internal troops - not far from the barricade and Smolenka. There is no information about detentions and accelerations at the moment.

In order for the idea to realize, approximately 34 thousand people should have taken part in it. The night before, on the action page on the social networks of the declared participants, there were about 15 thousand, another 8 thousand on the created website 26FEB.ru. Official sources in the Central Internal Affairs Directorate report that about 11 thousand people took part in the action. (Well, this is as usual.)

But now you can say for sure - the ring is closed!

In some areas of Garden, people stood in two or three rows. Almost everyone has something white. Ribbon, ball, white bag, lace, white flower. At the cook, a woman in the crowd waved a white nightie, a man in white slippers came out on Dobryninskaya, in Kursk - a man without shoes in huge white shorts. In the area of ​​Sakharov Avenue-several people with a long, long piece of white gauze. They went out with families, children, strollers, friends, pets. Here and there, recognizable faces flash. “The White Circle broke through this gray day,” says Boris Akunin in an interview with rain. - But I think, is it the last peaceful action in the city?! ”

Passing machines are alarmed by standing in the ring, they wave in response. Many passing cars are also white symbolism - balls, ribbons, Yabloko flag from the jeep window. The Putin Putin roller stickers were noticed even on the trolleybuses passing through the garden. It looks like a spontaneous rally “for honest elections” through the garden ring began again - cars with white symbols went to the second round.

Mid for two guys handed out tea and coffee - just like that, they bought it with their own money. In the area of ​​Dobryninskaya tea was treated free of charge from the neighboring Chocolate.

On Sukharevskaya, former employees of the Yukos company, fifty people in yellow-green scarves and with a white flag of Yukos, stood in the chain. Free tea with cookies was also brought here. Later it turned out that the table, cups, tea and cookies were brought by employees of the city service, who today work in Moscow, serving citizens on Maslenic festivities!

Near RIA Novosti on Zubovsky Boulevard is a crowd of young people with hearts. It is written on hearts: Putin loves everyone. “The state employees came out! -someone joked. “The last attempt to master the state budget!” Young “nurses” shout “Putin can for the third time” and tearing the ring with their living chain. People with white symbols shrug, silently bypassing their standing, and continue the chain further. According to our data, there were no skirmishes and fights.

At first, no chain did not work on the Crimean bridge at all. White ribbons accumulated at the exit from the metro station "Park of Culture" and slowly distributed along the roadway. Cars flew by, with white towels, sheets, shirts fluttering in the wind. Someone greeted us from the open window with a plush white bear. Some middle-aged woman stuck out from the window of Audi Q5 even a white iPad. Almost every driver signal. The first ten minutes stood very rarely. But people were getting closer. All new white ribbons walked from somewhere. And by 14:30 on the Crimean bridge you could hold hands.

At three in the afternoon, the action was supposed to end, but people were in no hurry to disperse. The chain opened, but Moscow united.