Putin's political milestone marred by plummeting polls, massive protests

[Right_in_Virginia]

Putin's political milestone marred by plummeting polls, massive protests
Washington Times, Aug 12, 2019, Marc Bennetts



MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin is marking 20 years in power, but the celebrations are decidedly muted.

That’s because the once high-riding former KGB intelligence officer is dealing with a sharp slump in polls, a fatal accident in one of the military’s prize programs and — when he looks out his window at the Kremlin — the largest opposition protests in almost a decade.

Up to 60,000 protesters rallied in the Russian capital on Saturday, according to an independent monitoring group. It was the fifth straight weekend that the invigorated pro-democracy movement had protested in Moscow to demand that opposition candidates be allowed to run in elections for the city legislature on Sept. 8.

“Putin is a thief,” protesters chanted as they flooded Sakharov Avenue under the watchful eyes of thousands of riot police and troops in body armor. The main rally, which was sanctioned, passed largely without incident, but police later detained over 250 peaceful protesters as they tried to gather outside the presidential administration near the Kremlin.

As riot police made arrests, one masked officer punched a woman in the stomach and others seized a man with cerebral palsy and hauled him away to a waiting police truck to the jeers of onlookers.


More:  https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/12/vladimir-putin-faces-russia-democracy-movement-dec/

[libertybele]

Putin's political milestone marred by plummeting polls, massive protests
Washington Times, Aug 12, 2019, Marc Bennetts



MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin is marking 20 years in power, but the celebrations are decidedly muted.

That’s because the once high-riding former KGB intelligence officer is dealing with a sharp slump in polls, a fatal accident in one of the military’s prize programs and — when he looks out his window at the Kremlin — the largest opposition protests in almost a decade.

Up to 60,000 protesters rallied in the Russian capital on Saturday, according to an independent monitoring group. It was the fifth straight weekend that the invigorated pro-democracy movement had protested in Moscow to demand that opposition candidates be allowed to run in elections for the city legislature on Sept. 8.

“Putin is a thief,” protesters chanted as they flooded Sakharov Avenue under the watchful eyes of thousands of riot police and troops in body armor. The main rally, which was sanctioned, passed largely without incident, but police later detained over 250 peaceful protesters as they tried to gather outside the presidential administration near the Kremlin.

As riot police made arrests, one masked officer punched a woman in the stomach and others seized a man with cerebral palsy and hauled him away to a waiting police truck to the jeers of onlookers.


More:  https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/12/vladimir-putin-faces-russia-democracy-movement-dec/

Frightening. Civil unrest seems to be growing more so than in the past throughout the world and it seems that the liberal leftists are trying to promote the same here.