Hell for Putin as Russians Finally Dare to Confront Him
Fear has been the invisible force holding President Putin’s Russia together for more than two decades. It kept ordinary citizens quiet, journalists self-censoring, and officials loyal. But the spell that once protected Putin is beginning to break.
Outside the Kremlin, a long, ragged line formed. Men in waterproof jackets clutched folders of complaints; pensioners leaned on canes; mothers pushed strollers toward the gate marked “Reception of the President of the Russian Federation.” The benches overflowed with petitions. Then a woman snapped.
“We’re sick of seeing them fill rooms with cash!” she shouted. “Who even chose these deputies? We never voted for them! Putin is feeding an army of men to solve our problems—but nothing changes!”
Her outburst drew applause from the crowd. Within sight of the Kremlin walls, ordinary Russians were accusing Putin’s men of theft and betrayal out loud. The scene captured on camera on Sept. 27 was a street protest, the kind that gets punished with time behind bars in Russia.
But despite years of horrific repression, ordinary Russians continue to speak out. The Nobel Prize–winning human-rights group Memorial counts more than 1,100 political prisoners in Russia. Dissenters have been jailed, tortured, exiled, or killed. Yet even under that pressure, frustration is bubbling to the surface: Russians carry their anger to Putin’s doorstep.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/putins-system-begins-to-collapse-as-russians-finally-dare-to-confront-him/
Is this 1905 again, or is it 1917? There's a war going on, so it could be either.... History repeats itself.
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