Putin Defiant After 100,000 Rally Rocks Moscow

The protests were triggered by widespread claim of election fraud which handed a reduced majority to Putin’s ruling United Russia party.

35 year old Russian blogger and political activist Alexei Navalny vowed one million people would attend the next anti-Putin rally but the opposition has yet to announce when this will happen.

www.turkishweekly.net/news/128743/putin-defiant-after-new-mass-rally-rocks-russia.html

Gorbachev’s call

The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, also called on Putin to quit, just as he had done Dec. 25, 1991 when the USSR collapsed exactly two decades ago. “I’m happy that I have lived to see the people waking up. This raises big hopes,” the 80-year-old Gorbachev said on Echo of Moscow radio. He urged Putin to follow his example and give up power peacefully, saying Putin would be remembered for the positive things he did if he stepped down now.

Largest protest since collapse of Soviet Union rocks Russia

Russia’s leadership was forced to defend its legitimacy yesterday after about 100,000 demonstrators rallied in central Moscow to demand democratic reform and fair elections in the largest wave of popular dissent since the fall of the Soviet Union.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/largest-protest-since-collapse-of-soviet-union-rocks-russia-6281549.html

This comes on the heels of the arrest of Russia’s top political bloggers Alexei Navalny for protesting against election fraud.

Russia cracks down on election protesters:

Russian police have arrested leading political opposition figures and prominent internet bloggers. Alexei Navalny, Russia’s best known blogger, a renowned Kremlin critic, was arrested for protesting against fraud in last weekend’s election.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3385172.htm

Bloggers Alexei and Andrew are waiting and say they’re not surprised by the large numbers of detentions during one of the biggest protests in Moscow in years.