Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Moscow yesterday for rival rallies arguing over the future of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in a trial of political strength one month ahead of presidential polls.
While protesters from the anti-Putin movement massed for their third rally in less than two months urging the Russian strongman to quit, his supporters also filled a square in western Moscow to bursting point.
Police said 138,000 turned up for the pro-Putin rally in the west of the capital and put the number of protesters at the anti-Putin event at about 36,000.
Photo: AFP
However, opposition rally organizers said they mobilized more than 120,000.
Bundled up in down jackets, fur coats and felt boots, the protesters defied freezing weather of about minus-17oC as Russia’s political temperature heated up ahead of the March 4 elections.
The rally by the anti-Putin -movement — its third since disputed Dec. 4 parliamentary polls — was seen as a crucial test of whether activists can keep their momentum to pose a real challenge to the Russian strongman.
“We are not afraid of the frost. We are afraid of lies,” said Mikhail Matrosov, a 51-year-old businessman who came to the rally with his friends.
“We are for fair elections,” he said.
The protesters marched onto Bolotnaya Square just on the other side of the Moscow river from the Kremlin and massed to hear speeches from activists and politicians calling on Putin to quit for the sake of the country.
“Putin wants to rule forever! One, two, three Putin leave!” opposition activist Ilya Yashin cried as the crowd roared back its approval.
The leader of the opposition Yabloko party, Grigory Yavlinsky, said: “We are different, but we are all of the same color, the colors of the Russian flag!”
Yavlinsky was controversially disqualified from the presidential elections on procedural grounds, ridding Putin of his sole liberal challenger in the race.
Implying he expected Putin to win the polls, but that he would then have to endure a hard time, Yavlinsky said: “Life does not end on March 4 or even 5. Everything is just beginning. We together are defending the country’s future. We will never retreat.”
Putin is standing for a third term as Kremlin chief in the elections after his-four year stint as prime minister and his main opposition will come from the Communists, who have shown little passion for the protest movement.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu