Fewer people participated in May Day rallies and demonstrations than expected
According to the Interior Ministry, about 30,000 people participated in May Day demonstrations and rallies in Moscow, which is less than City Hall had expected. Government authorities had approved 32 applications for demonstrations from pro- and anti-government supporters, and had expected up to 70,000 people to assemble. Demonstrators in one part of the city chanted "The Putin Plan is a plan for victory" while those in another part called for taking power from the Prime Minister's Government.
The United Russia party commemorated the May 1st holiday together with the Independent Trade Union Federation of Russia. A group of 20,000 people stretched for almost a kilometre along 1st Tverskaya Yamskaya Street, from Belorusskaya Metro Station towards the Mayor's Office, a traditional site of May Day rallies. The marchers carried banners with slogans such as "For Workers' Rights and Decent Life", or "Labour, Wages and Social Guarantees". A truck outfitted as a train with carriages led a group of activists from the United Russia Young Guard. Inside the truck were children in knitted caps emblazoned with the number 2020 (the year the "Putin Plan" is to be completed). One banner read: "Russia needs children." An hour later the demonstration reached the Mayor's Office, chanting "The People! Medvedev! Putin! 2020! Russia, Forward," and "The Putin Plan is a plan for Victory".
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov acknowledged that what brought people to the rally was "not only the joy of the holiday, but also great anxiety." Mr Luzhkov reasoned that "the crisis has been spreading and looming over us for nine months," and then ended with a blistering attack on Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. The Chairman of the Independent Trade Union Federation, Mikhail Shmakov, also stressed that "the current economic situation is getting to everyone." Among the speakers were a teacher, a metallurgist and a Minsk metro train driver, who promised that "Belarus will not let you down."
Members of the Communist Party marched from Kaluzhskaya Square to Teatralnaya Square. They were led by KPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov, who was followed by adult Communists, children in Young Pioneer ties, and representatives of the Working Russia party. At the end of the procession there was a man with a megaphone, who chanted, "We are at the rear of the column, but this doesn't mean we are at the tail end of political life."
Working Russia called for the unification of Russia and Belarus, the resignation of the Government, a revolution, and for abandoning the market economy. During the rally, Gennady Zyuganov berated the "American bubble of speculative capital," and "the neo-Nazis who have bared their teeth" in blowing up a monument to Lenin at the Finlyandsky Train Station in St Petersburg. He proposed a "renewed socialism" for Russia, stating that "this most reliable version draws on the experience of the great Soviet Union and modern China".
Led by Sergei Mironov, members of the party A Just Russia marched from Trubnaya Metro Sation to Pushkinskaya Square. Among its slogans were, "Don't test fortune, cut utilities prices," and "No tax on 600 square metres." Some promotional banners could be found ("A Just Russia is springtime for politics"). The LDPR confined itself to a rally on Pushkinskaya Square, where the party's leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, mentioned the Easter Holidays more often than the 1st of May.
In defiance of a ban on their demonstration, about 300 Yabloko activists gathered on Bolotnaya Square to hear their leader Sergei Mitrokhin, who berated the "commercial corrupt bureaucracy that has entangled our country like an octopus" and called for people's control over the government. Their colleagues from the opposition group Solidarity were more creative when it was their turn to stage a rally in the same Bolotnaya Square. Picketers held up paintings by the "Blue Noses" art group and photographs by an artistic group called "War." A picture of policemen practicing the yoga hung on stage. The activists led a class in Thimblerig in front of the stage, explaining that they were campaigning for the game to be included in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Policemen were ordered to fulfil their duties "in a polite and civil manner, and not to enter into altercation with anyone". The Solidarity party's demonstration sought to recreate the spirit of Hyde Park, which President Dmitry Medvedev had promised to organise. The Solidarity leaders also led discussions: Garry Kasparov discussed with the activists how to divide the country's gold and currency reserves. Vladimir Milov discussed Boris Nemtsov's election campaign in Sochi, and Oleg Kozyrev discussed political blogs.
The Nationalists' demonstration was peaceful, although the Moscow police had warned that there may be attempts to stage provocations. About 300 representatives of the Slavic Union, DPNI and Orthodox Church Banner Bearers gathered on Krasnopresnenskaya Zastava square, armed with slogans such as "Free Elections" and "Russian Order for the Russian Land." The speakers criticised guest workers, the United Russia party for "filling its purse," and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was blamed for the crisis. "Where is the Putin plan? Where is Putin-Kaputin?" shouted an activist whom the leader of the Slavic Union, Dmitry Demushkin, introduced simply as a "fellow party member." Security during the rally was provided by the Special Purpose Police Unit (OMON), who outnumbered the demonstrators. A police helicopter hovered over the square.
According to Viktor Biryukov, the chief spokesman for Moscow police, about 30,000 people participated in the Moscow May 1st demonstrations, instead of the expected 70,000. The 9,000 policemen who provided security did not report "any serious incidents in the city". Only the Communists reported that unidentified people had thrown a petrol bomb under the car of a KPRF member, but the provocation was quickly "localised." Police detained two participants in the KPRF rally, who turned out to be the activists from the Left Front. They lit two flares in front of the State Duma. The We Movement leader, Roman Dobrokhotov, along with some Solidarity activists carrying props for the rally, were detained near the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station.
Alisa Ivanitskaya, Daniil Turovsky, Ivan Tyazhlov
