The opposition rally For Power Rotation was held in Moscow on September 20. The organizers have applied for a 40,000-strong event, the Russian capital’s municipal government agreed, but banned the march, allowing only the rally itself to proceed.
The rally took place far from the city center in the neighborhood of Maryino on the south-eastern outskirts of the capital of Russia. The number of participants was estimated by Grani.ru web portal at no more than 4,000. At the same time, the White Counter project reported 7,100 protesters.
Semen NOVOPRUDSKY says: “This rally has shown that some non-systemic opposition is present in Russia, even if lacking influence. However, this is not about any major rallies, bringing, say, 50,000 people to the streets and changing the government. Gradually, the Russians are realizing the system cannot be changed from within by playing by its rules. Furthermore, the resource needed to change it from below is absent as well. It may well be that some future developments in Russia will create a demand for the opposition. It is obvious that such demand is higher now than a year or a year and a half ago.”
