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Russia’syoungand
restlessspeakup
ANASTASIASERGEEVA
Today’syoungRussiangenerationwasbornin
themidtolate1990s.Teygrewupwiththe
internetandmobilephones.Teywitnessed
thecountrygrowrichandbelievedtheytoo
wouldreceivethebenefitsofoilrevenueand
livehappily.Butalasithasturnedoutthat
theinternetiscensored,thebenefitsaregone
andtheyarenotgoingtogetmuchinlife.
Inearly2017AlexeiNavalnyannouncedthathewillrunagainstVladimirPu-
tinin2018.Inlessthanayear,hemanagedtoraise,throughcrowdfunding,200
millionRussianroubles(roughlythreemillioneuros),whichisanunprecedented
amountforaRussianpolitician.Heopened80headquartersacrossthecountryand
organisedaseriesofprotestralliesthatwereattendedinMarchandJune2017by
tensofthousandsofpeople.Tesedemonstrationswerethefirstmassgatherings
thatsweptacrossRussianprovinces(somewereorganisedeveninsmalltowns)
sincethe1990s.
Barriersandrestrictions,attemptstodiscreditthedemonstrations,media
censorshipandattacksbythugsdidnotdetertheprotestors.Whatismore,it
wasclear,startingwiththefirstMarchrally,thatalargenumberoftheprotesters
wereveryyoung.Teywereprimarilyhighschoolstudentsandteenagers.Tisis
afairlynewsituationfortheprotestsceneinRussia.Whileitistruethattheyouth
hasalwaysplayedanindirectroleinlong-termchangesinthecountry,especially
