MOSCOW – Russia’s protests over the weekend in support of opposition prison leader Alexei Navalny show the challenge facing President Vladimir Putin in managing social discontent ahead of this year’s parliamentary elections.
Saturday’s unsanctioned rallies were one of the biggest in recent years and saw tens of thousands of people brave the icy temperatures, the threat of the pandemic and the possibility of incarceration. According to independent monitors, security forces detained more than 3,500 people – the largest number in at least nine years.
The protests left the Kremlin in a dilemma: bow before the pressure of the street and undermine its own authority by Mr. Release Navalny, or run the chance to provoke more setbacks and unite the opposition by keeping him behind bars.
“There are few good options for Putin,” said Abbas Gallyamov, a Moscow-based political consultant and former speechwriter. Putin. “It looks like Navalny is attacking and defending the Kremlin.”
The approval of mr. Putin has weakened over the past few years amid a sluggish economy and protest activity. Observers say the Navalny protests, if continued, pose a threat to Mr. Putin’s dominance may hold, despite the constitutional changes approved last year that would allow him to remain in power until 2036.