Chanting “Russia Without Putin,” Flash Mobs Roil Moscow

Russians are using social media to report vote rigging by authorities and organize flash protests in the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities. “For more than a decade, Russians appear to have quietly accepted Vladimir Putin's system of ‘managed democracy,’” writes Fred Weir for the Christian Science Monitor, explaining that measures “ensure that only Kremlin-approved parties and candidates get elected, and that the decisive share of votes is always won by the ruling party, United Russia.” But in the recent Duma elections, Putin’s party won about half the votes, down about 15 percent from 2007 results. Protesters represent a broad range of society, and observers suggest that authorities’ crackdown is stirring public rage. Putin and his party may have won this election, but an opposition leader contends that that the vote-rigging, protests and crackdown have uncovered widespread discontent with the charade, signaling “the beginning of the end for the Putin regime.” – YaleGlobal