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| Anti-Putin Protest Fizzles as Police Sweep Square | Anti-Putin Protest Fizzles as Police Sweep Square |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MOSCOW — In the end, Russia’s “white ribbon” opposition, which roared to life in December 2011 hoping to oust Vladimir V. Putin from power, came down to this: not quite two dozen stalwarts huddled all night inside an oversize Christmas tree ornament just outside the Kremlin walls, awaiting inevitable arrest. By morning, it came. | |
| They were quickly removed from the ornament, a glittering white orb, the last stragglers of what had been a crowd of about 3,000 people who had gathered Tuesday evening to protest the conviction on fraud charges of Aleksei A. Navalny, the anticorruption crusader and Kremlin antagonist, and his brother, Oleg, who was charged along with him. | They were quickly removed from the ornament, a glittering white orb, the last stragglers of what had been a crowd of about 3,000 people who had gathered Tuesday evening to protest the conviction on fraud charges of Aleksei A. Navalny, the anticorruption crusader and Kremlin antagonist, and his brother, Oleg, who was charged along with him. |
| Mr. Navalny, who was perhaps the closest thing the white ribbon movement ever had to a leader, never made it to the unauthorized rally on Manezh Square. Although he broke out of house arrest, he was intercepted by the police about a block away from the rally and was forcibly returned to his apartment, where five officers were posted outside his door to be sure he did not leave again. | Mr. Navalny, who was perhaps the closest thing the white ribbon movement ever had to a leader, never made it to the unauthorized rally on Manezh Square. Although he broke out of house arrest, he was intercepted by the police about a block away from the rally and was forcibly returned to his apartment, where five officers were posted outside his door to be sure he did not leave again. |
| Russia’s well-practiced riot police, known as the OMON, dispersed most of the crowd with devastating effectiveness. After trampling through a holiday gnome village set up on the square, they pushed most of the crowd into the underground passageways leading to the subway, arresting more than 100 people in the process. | Russia’s well-practiced riot police, known as the OMON, dispersed most of the crowd with devastating effectiveness. After trampling through a holiday gnome village set up on the square, they pushed most of the crowd into the underground passageways leading to the subway, arresting more than 100 people in the process. |
| That left the die-hards entrenched in the big glass ornament as a metaphor for the Russian political opposition movement as a whole: shivering and diminished, confident in the rightness of their cause, but also hoping for reinforcements that never arrived. | That left the die-hards entrenched in the big glass ornament as a metaphor for the Russian political opposition movement as a whole: shivering and diminished, confident in the rightness of their cause, but also hoping for reinforcements that never arrived. |
| Their photos, posted on Twitter throughout the night as the temperature dipped to minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit and from the police van that carried them away, showed that some of them were mildly famous. | Their photos, posted on Twitter throughout the night as the temperature dipped to minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit and from the police van that carried them away, showed that some of them were mildly famous. |
| There was Maria Alyokhina, of the punk band Pussy Riot, who spent nearly two years in prison after being convicted of hooliganism for a protest against Mr. Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral. | There was Maria Alyokhina, of the punk band Pussy Riot, who spent nearly two years in prison after being convicted of hooliganism for a protest against Mr. Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral. |
| There was Maria Baronova, who spent six months fighting prosecution on charges of assaulting a police officer at a protest against Mr. Putin that turned violent in May 2012 but was granted amnesty in December 2013 ahead of the Sochi Olympics. | There was Maria Baronova, who spent six months fighting prosecution on charges of assaulting a police officer at a protest against Mr. Putin that turned violent in May 2012 but was granted amnesty in December 2013 ahead of the Sochi Olympics. |
| And there was Arseny Bobrovsky, half of the popular satirical duo @KermlinRussia, whose partner, Katya Romanovskaya, once awoke to find a 200-pound wooden penis had been left on the roof of her car. | And there was Arseny Bobrovsky, half of the popular satirical duo @KermlinRussia, whose partner, Katya Romanovskaya, once awoke to find a 200-pound wooden penis had been left on the roof of her car. |
| The rest of the group were dedicated but unknown supporters of the anti-Putin movement, remnants of an uprising that for a few brief months in early 2012 had managed to consistently put tens of thousands of people on the streets of Moscow. | The rest of the group were dedicated but unknown supporters of the anti-Putin movement, remnants of an uprising that for a few brief months in early 2012 had managed to consistently put tens of thousands of people on the streets of Moscow. |
| Steadily, firmly, Mr. Putin crushed them. | Steadily, firmly, Mr. Putin crushed them. |
| Like Mr. Navalny, a number of the best-known faces of the movement, people who stood on stage at the protests, have been prosecuted by the Russian criminal justice system. Others have fled the country fearing arrest, and still others have quietly moved on with their lives, as opposing Mr. Putin has seemed increasingly futile. | Like Mr. Navalny, a number of the best-known faces of the movement, people who stood on stage at the protests, have been prosecuted by the Russian criminal justice system. Others have fled the country fearing arrest, and still others have quietly moved on with their lives, as opposing Mr. Putin has seemed increasingly futile. |
| Sergei Udaltsov, the always black-clad leader of the radical-socialist group, Left Front, was convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government, along with a top lieutenant, Leonid Razvozzhayev, who had tried to seek asylum in the West but was kidnapped in Kiev, Ukraine, and returned to Moscow. They are each serving four and a half years in prison. | Sergei Udaltsov, the always black-clad leader of the radical-socialist group, Left Front, was convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government, along with a top lieutenant, Leonid Razvozzhayev, who had tried to seek asylum in the West but was kidnapped in Kiev, Ukraine, and returned to Moscow. They are each serving four and a half years in prison. |
| Kseniya Sobchak, a television hostess and daughter of one of Mr. Putin’s political mentors, Anatoly A. Sobchak, a former mayor of St. Petersburg who died in 2000, has mostly dropped out of the political limelight. She continues to host a television show on the independent Internet television station Rain, as well as a game show. | Kseniya Sobchak, a television hostess and daughter of one of Mr. Putin’s political mentors, Anatoly A. Sobchak, a former mayor of St. Petersburg who died in 2000, has mostly dropped out of the political limelight. She continues to host a television show on the independent Internet television station Rain, as well as a game show. |
| During the 2012 protests, Ms. Sobchak was part of an opposition movement power couple. Her boyfriend then, Ilya Yashin, was a main organizer of the protest and a leader of the People’s Freedom Party, a group that included the former chess champion Garry Kasparov. (Mr. Kasparov, like many prominent opposition figures, now lives in self-imposed exile in New York.) | During the 2012 protests, Ms. Sobchak was part of an opposition movement power couple. Her boyfriend then, Ilya Yashin, was a main organizer of the protest and a leader of the People’s Freedom Party, a group that included the former chess champion Garry Kasparov. (Mr. Kasparov, like many prominent opposition figures, now lives in self-imposed exile in New York.) |
| Ms. Sobchak broke up with Mr. Yashin and married a fellow television personality and actor named Maksim Vitorgan. | Ms. Sobchak broke up with Mr. Yashin and married a fellow television personality and actor named Maksim Vitorgan. |
| In an interview before Tuesday’s verdict in which he was given a suspended sentence of three and a half years, Mr. Navalny said opposition leaders were simply intimidated, with 45 criminal cases opened against 20 members of the coordinating council that had organized the protests in 2012. | In an interview before Tuesday’s verdict in which he was given a suspended sentence of three and a half years, Mr. Navalny said opposition leaders were simply intimidated, with 45 criminal cases opened against 20 members of the coordinating council that had organized the protests in 2012. |
| “People are afraid,” Mr. Navalny said. “Totally destroyed.” | “People are afraid,” Mr. Navalny said. “Totally destroyed.” |
| He said that Mr. Putin had changed the stakes with the invasion of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine, where Russian soldiers have been dying, along with thousands of civilians. | He said that Mr. Putin had changed the stakes with the invasion of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine, where Russian soldiers have been dying, along with thousands of civilians. |
| “There is a war, people are dying,” Mr. Navalny said. “They are taking down the tombstones of those Pskov paratroopers so that the names aren’t written on their graves. And on the background of all this, discussion of corruption and elections and all of this, the main topics of the democratic movement, it looks, well, kind of silly.” | “There is a war, people are dying,” Mr. Navalny said. “They are taking down the tombstones of those Pskov paratroopers so that the names aren’t written on their graves. And on the background of all this, discussion of corruption and elections and all of this, the main topics of the democratic movement, it looks, well, kind of silly.” |
| The only prominent mainstream public officials to support the white ribbon movement, Gennadi V. Gudkov, his son, Dmitry G. Gudkov, and Ilya V. Ponomarev, who were then members of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, have also come under severe pressure. | The only prominent mainstream public officials to support the white ribbon movement, Gennadi V. Gudkov, his son, Dmitry G. Gudkov, and Ilya V. Ponomarev, who were then members of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, have also come under severe pressure. |
| Gennadi Gudkov was stripped of his seat in Parliament in September 2012, after being accused of violating the law by operating a business while serving as a lawmaker. | Gennadi Gudkov was stripped of his seat in Parliament in September 2012, after being accused of violating the law by operating a business while serving as a lawmaker. |
| Dmitry Gudkov remains in Parliament along with Mr. Ponomarev, where they are independents. Mr. Ponomarev was the only legislator to vote against Russia’s annexation of Crimea; Mr. Gudkov abstained. Still, they face constant criticism or harassment. | Dmitry Gudkov remains in Parliament along with Mr. Ponomarev, where they are independents. Mr. Ponomarev was the only legislator to vote against Russia’s annexation of Crimea; Mr. Gudkov abstained. Still, they face constant criticism or harassment. |
| Mr. Gudkov was accused of treason after a visit to the United States in March 2013; Mr. Ponomarev has been accused of embezzling money from Skolkovo, a government-financed research institute. | Mr. Gudkov was accused of treason after a visit to the United States in March 2013; Mr. Ponomarev has been accused of embezzling money from Skolkovo, a government-financed research institute. |
| Reached by telephone in New York, where he was spending New Year’s and having a delayed honeymoon, Mr. Gudkov said he believed that Mr. Putin had succeeded in suppressing the protests of 2011 and 2012, which were led by the urban middle class. But he said Russia’s current economic problems would soon activate a much broader swath of society, as people feel the effects of high inflation, a weakened currency and budget cuts required by lower oil prices. | Reached by telephone in New York, where he was spending New Year’s and having a delayed honeymoon, Mr. Gudkov said he believed that Mr. Putin had succeeded in suppressing the protests of 2011 and 2012, which were led by the urban middle class. But he said Russia’s current economic problems would soon activate a much broader swath of society, as people feel the effects of high inflation, a weakened currency and budget cuts required by lower oil prices. |
| “Now, it’s only middle class, but next year it will hit the rest of the people,” Mr. Gudkov said. “In 2011 and 2012, it was the political protest, now we are expecting the economic protests.” | “Now, it’s only middle class, but next year it will hit the rest of the people,” Mr. Gudkov said. “In 2011 and 2012, it was the political protest, now we are expecting the economic protests.” |
| He acknowledged that there appeared to be few leaders among the political opposition at the moment but said more than enough were waiting in the wings, including the well-respected former finance minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, who remains in Russia, and the former Yukos oil tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, who has lived in Switzerland since Mr. Putin pardoned him last year after 10 years in jail. | He acknowledged that there appeared to be few leaders among the political opposition at the moment but said more than enough were waiting in the wings, including the well-respected former finance minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, who remains in Russia, and the former Yukos oil tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, who has lived in Switzerland since Mr. Putin pardoned him last year after 10 years in jail. |
| “We don’t have leaders because it’s impossible to develop in this political system, you have no access to the television, you have no access to other mass media,” Mr. Gudkov said. “You can only use the Internet, but you know what’s happening with Internet in today’s Russia.” | “We don’t have leaders because it’s impossible to develop in this political system, you have no access to the television, you have no access to other mass media,” Mr. Gudkov said. “You can only use the Internet, but you know what’s happening with Internet in today’s Russia.” |
| Mr. Gudkov said he believed Mr. Putin’s sky-high approval ratings were illusory, a reaction to the manufactured image presented on government television. “Today you can have 80 percent, tomorrow you will have 20 percent,” he said. “But we know that tomorrow we will have inflation, we will have an economic crisis, we will have the capital flight. People will lose their jobs.” | Mr. Gudkov said he believed Mr. Putin’s sky-high approval ratings were illusory, a reaction to the manufactured image presented on government television. “Today you can have 80 percent, tomorrow you will have 20 percent,” he said. “But we know that tomorrow we will have inflation, we will have an economic crisis, we will have the capital flight. People will lose their jobs.” |
| In the freezing cold on Manezh Square, the large Christmas ornament’s white lights made the protesters inside look like dolls caught in a snow globe. Some posed for photos in pairs, holding two hand-scrawled signs. One read, “We’re in the globe,” the other, “While Navalny’s brother is in jail.” | In the freezing cold on Manezh Square, the large Christmas ornament’s white lights made the protesters inside look like dolls caught in a snow globe. Some posed for photos in pairs, holding two hand-scrawled signs. One read, “We’re in the globe,” the other, “While Navalny’s brother is in jail.” |
| They gave interviews and chatted with the police, wrapped themselves in blankets, ate pizza and drank hot tea that froze if left sitting for too long. | They gave interviews and chatted with the police, wrapped themselves in blankets, ate pizza and drank hot tea that froze if left sitting for too long. |
| At one point @KermlinRussia, which has more than one million followers on Twitter, posted, “We’re waiting for you in the ball.” The crowds never materialized. | At one point @KermlinRussia, which has more than one million followers on Twitter, posted, “We’re waiting for you in the ball.” The crowds never materialized. |