Just don't get them mixed up,
this is today's small, fringe rally in Novosibirsk by a handful of people unhappy about utility rates. Instigated by outside forces.
And this is yesterday's enormous mega-rally of Putin supporters, where the whole city came flooding in (voluntarily, no one was forced!) in a united show of support for the Party and the Government:
Of course, I knew this was already the third rally against the 15% increase in housing and utility rates, and the first one was held in temperatures of -30°C (-22°F).
But I had no idea how angry the crowd really was. It's rare for my speech to be more moderate in tone than the chants from the people gathered there.
Interestingly, the rally's organizing committee too (they did a great job, by the way—excellent organizing) issued the demand to the governor: “Cancel it or resign,” giving him a month to reverse the tariff hike decision. But the most popular chant was “Gorodetsky, resign.” People don't want to wait a month.
There was a funny moment before the rally. In every city, Putin loyalists who throw eggs follow us around. Usually they toss a couple of eggs from a distance and run away. This time they tried to do the same thing right in the middle of the rally crowd. I'll just say I was very glad the poor guy was saved from being lynched on the spot. It wasn't easy.
The organizing committee officially invited all party leaders and presidential candidates. So I was invited to speak as well. It's always a pleasure to speak in Novosibirsk—it's a smart, great city.
Thank you very much—I was really glad to see everyone. It's nice that the whole city saw our little investigation into Abyzov's villa.
The overall impression is this: the city has had enough. Clearly, people here simply cannot afford this new rate. And they certainly don't want to pay for someone else's lavish lifestyle.
And it's important to understand: it hasn't even taken effect yet. In other words, the people taking to the streets are those who realize that starting in July, the amounts on their utility bills will be different.
I'm curious to see what will happen here in August, when the notice telling people it's time to take to the streets—contained in the housing and utility bill—arrives in every apartment.
Already 1,500 people have signed up for the Novosibirsk group organizing the rally “He Is Not Dimon to Us” (a reference to the anti-Medvedev protest slogan).