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February 4th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Pundits had warned that the protest movement – a motley alliance including
westernising liberals, communists and monarchist nationalists – had shown
signs of fracture and fatigue after pulling off the largest anti-government
protests since the 1990s in December.
But instead of staying home, and in defiance of advice from the country’s top
doctor who warned people not to go out, the crowd lapped up the cold,
singing along with Russian rock legend Yuri Shevchuk in a rendition of a
song called “Moroz” (frost).
Protesters, many of whom were dressed in furs and ski gear, cheered “the
sun is with us!” as clouds cleared.
The crowd included presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov and former Finance
Minister Alexei Kudrin, a close friend of Mr Putin – though neither took to
the stage.
Meanwhile, pro-Putin groups held their own, simultaneous counter-demonstration
in the south west of the city.
Speakers at the rally, dubbed “We have much to lose” warned the
crowd of the dangers of a Ukraine-style “Orange revolution.”
Police estimated 138,000 people rallied at the pro-Putin event. The opposition
quickly dismissed that figure as grossly inflated. Russia’s state-owned news
agency RIA Novosti said its correspondent thought the real attendance was “much
lower” than the official figure.
Mr Putin, who is on a trip to the Urals, expressed “surprise” at the
size of the rally and offered to pay part of the fine the rally organisers
would face for exceeding the planned attendance of 15,000.
Rumours circulating on the internet that most of the pro-Putin demonstrators
had been bussed in from outside Moscow and had been paid 1000 roubles (about
£20) each were impossible to verify.
The Gazeta.ru online newspaper quoted several participants who said they were
state employees who had been ordered to attend by their bosses.
Speakers at the opposition demo reiterated demands for a rerun of the marred
parliamentary vote of December 10 and again called on Russians not to “give
a single vote to Putin.”
The organisers have promised to return to Moscow’s streets on February 26, two
weeks before the elections.
But despite a sense amongst the demonstrators on Bolotnaya today that the
Kremlin is on the back foot, it is unclear whether they can have an impact
on the outcome of the March 4 elections.
Opinion polls show Vladimir Putin polling well ahead of his nearest rivals,
and there is no single candidate the very disparate opposition are likely to
rally around.
The liberal core of the opposition movement is likely to baulk at voting for
Putin’s nearest rival, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, in the event of a
second round run off.
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