In just under two hours after being evicted by riot police in the early morning hours of Wednesday from an Occupy-type tent protest in Moscow, anti-Putin protesters moved their camp to another central park to continue their stand against President Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin.
Riot police forced protesters out of their original camp in the Russian capital’s fashionable Chistye Prudy neighborhood and began dismantling it just after 5:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, briefly detaining over 20 people.
By 6:30 a.m. at least 20 people had gathered at a new park just a two-minute walk from the U.S. Embassy and at around 10:00 a.m. at least 50 protesters made their way to the new protest site on Kudrinskaya Square.
Protesters had earlier been told they would have until noon on Wednesday to clear out of Chistye Prudy, but instead were forced out much earlier, most protesters still half asleep.
A calm start but tensions increase
Throughout the day the number of peaceful protesters next to the landmark neo-classical Stalin-era tower on Kurdrinskaya Square remained more or less constant with just over 50 people. But as the workday wound down after 6:00 p.m., the crowd began to grow.
Following a pattern that began at the earlier camp, protesters held signs up in the air with announcements of “lectures” to be held at specific times, the name of the lecturer, and the area on the square where the lecture was to be delivered, for example, near the fountain, the south corner, etc. Topics ranged from legal rights and police brutality to education and housing issues.
The major announcement was arranged for 9:00 p.m.: to decide whether the protesters would remain at Kudrinskaya Square, or move on to another possible location in the city. Right after the delivery of the proposals, a vote was called and by the majority of the raised hands in the crowd, the protesters decided to hold their ground where they were. After the vote, a small delegation approached the commanding officer in the police squad.
In a short few minutes, clapping erupted in the crowd. It was not because a certain agreement had been met by the police authorities, but the approach of several special forces officers threading through the crowd. Clapping in these instances have two effects: to alert other protest participants that the special forces are making a move, and also serves as a rhythm by which they began chanting “Shame!” to the police for interrupting their peaceful protest.
The special forces made their way to a makeshift information table and stormed a nearby table laden with food and water for the protesters and quickly confiscated the free food and drink offered to the participants. There were reports from the crowd that the police had also nabbed a donation box that had over $8,000 in cash.
A group of disgruntled protesters, most in their 30s, attempted to reclaim what was theirs, only to be snagged by other special forces officers and dragged through the lawn and sidewalk to an awaiting paddy wagon, which they were hurriedly stuffed into.
The angry crowd, now well over 1,000 strong, then ran toward the street where the police buses and paddy wagons were parked and surrounded them to stop them driving off with their “brothers who have been detained.”
The police called to the crowd through bullhorns to disperse and clear the street they have blocked, but the mob had no plans of moving and screamed back at the police authorities to “free their brothers!”
The chants of “Shame,” “Fascists,” and “Thieves” roared over the bullhorns in response as people began beating the sides of the paddy wagons with their hands.
Blood began to boil between the police and chanting protesters, who refuse to obey their orders to step off the street. Police begin grabbing the more aggressive and “non-compliant” protesters and shoving them in the paddy wagons, while others tried to save “their brothers” before being stuffed in the vehicles, resulting in yet more pushing and shoving between the opposing sides.
Though the shoving and calls continued, the police forces did not turn to their truncheons to drive their message home, but instead linked arms and pushed the crowd from the street up onto the sidewalk where the opposing sides then froze and stared at one another. The police were quiet and did not communicate with the protesters, who yelled: “It’s our city, we’ll walk where we want!”
The paddy wagons eventually drove off with more than 20 protesters to the nearest precinct.
Both sides were at a stalemate.
Quiet After the Storm
Two of the most prominent people in the opposition, parliamentarian Dmitry Gudkov and show business celebrity Ksenia Sobchak, called an immediate meeting well after midnight in the square to speak with the protesters after a discussion with police authorities and City Hall representatives.
Since the protesters did not have any technical equipment like loudspeakers, microphones or bullhorns, the two mediators spoke to the crowd in fractured sentences containing up to four or five words before continuing on with their thoughts. After each short pause, the crowd shouted these words loudly, so that everyone could hear throughout the square. Individuals from the crowd spoke to the mediators in the same fashion, a list of demands was compiled and left the “podium” to continue talks with the authorities.
Protesters demanded the immediate release of those who were just detained, and to have their food, water and money returned.
The two mediators returned several minutes later with compromises on both sides and began the slow echoing process of relaying the results of their negotiations. The police say the money, if found, will be returned, but the whereabouts of the food and water are unknown. Both sides agree that it must be determined if those detained are guilty of a crime or not, before deciding if they can be released.
In return, the special forces will be called off, leaving only a few police in and around the park area, on condition no tents are pitched in the square, people don’t trample the grass, remain on sidewalks and not block the surrounding roads, refrain from chanting anti-government slogans, and do not break any other laws. The protesters may remain on this particular square as long as they do not breach any of the conditions just listed.
Both sides agreed and the special forces and most of the police left the area.
Singing to the guitar, playing badminton, walking around or sitting and chatting gave a feeling of complete relief after the clashes that had sparked up. The sun began rising after 3:00 a.m., greeting another new day at Moscow’s protest camp.
