10 дек - митинг

"We want fair elections"

Last Saturday a group of us went, against the advice of our administration & various Embassies, to the protest/rally being held at  Болотная площадь (Bolotnaya Ploshad'). It was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. A large amount of Russians, young & old, were thronging in the streets, cars were honking in support, flags & ribbons were being shared round and we were amazed at the peace & calm. 

The Omon - омон 

There was obviously a hideously large police & military presence, including the Omon, the famous cold blooded murdering controllers of the Soviet Republics. The police were however relatively sedate and also happy to have pictures taken - unheard of in Russia. There was an obvious air of tension but we had a perfectly peaceful experience. We were given leaflets, ribbons, balloons by passersby, all white of course. Following in the wake of Ukraine, Russia has chosen white as their color. 

Military Riot Police - packed into trucks

Trucks of military riot police lined up on approach to the park

These trucks were the first thing that we saw as we walked over the bridge to the rally. A slightly scary feeling came over all of us. We'd been smart and brought copies of our passports & visas, exchanged numbers, left emergency contacts in our dorm for friends and brought cash with us to bribe ourselves out of prison - IF it came to that. Nothing that we were expecting happened and we were pleasantly surprised. It was a fun experience and I'm so glad I went. 

Military Riot Police lining up.

Back up military riot police & regular police who eventually cut off all the traffic & controlled the crowds

We saw these riot police walking down from the hill as we were leaving. There were actually all such young boys and I thought a couple looked like girls but they were just young boys! We all realized that we'd probably picked the best time to leave! They all formed up and stood in formation for about 10 minutes. They then walked across the bridge and blocked off the traffic. There were also lots of trucks, tractors & gritting trucks all strategically parked and we noticed that they were all slowly moving so as to cut off the entrance & exit to the park. Effectively there was only one entrance & exit and you were trapped. Control was the word of the day. 

View of the stage & rally from the otherside of the river. Plenty of variety of flags - Communists, Yabloko, Anti-United Russia.