You fly into Irkutsk like this. At 8 in the morning, they take you to Lake Baikal. There, you arrive at a market that has just opened, where they sell omul, grayling, and other kinds of sugudai (a Siberian raw fish dish), and a woman selling fish asks: Lyosha, so what’s happening with your lawsuit against Putin? I watch all your broadcasts and tell everyone to support you.
At moments like that, you realize just how important what we’re doing together really is.
Irkutsk is a fantastic city. We held a huge, great rally thanks to a local businessman—this brave man watched the city administration deny us permission for the rally 50 times (no joke, fifty), and then simply gave us the grounds of his furniture center.
And the people showed the officials which rallies they like—and which ones they don’t.
A huge thank-you to everyone for such a warm welcome and for coming despite all the intimidation.
Sorry that not everyone could fit into the venue.
Siberia is with us—no Putins or United Russias (the ruling pro-Kremlin party) have any support here.
Tomorrow — Kemerovo (6:00 p.m., the square at the intersection of Leonov and Alexandrov).
Come join us.