Photograph: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TassWith demonstrations to close landfills popping up across the Moscow region, the Kremlin is worried about these protests snowballing into a movement. But Vladimir Putin, who took 70% of the vote in this area in elections in March, is not the target of the protesters’ rage. In 2016, just 32% of Moscow region residents living outside the capital said they were satisfied with the performance of their municipal governments. “We aren’t against Putin, we’re even for Putin,” interjected Elena Rumyantseva, 55, when a reporter asked about how the protests affected enthusiasm for the elections. Putin is seen as a potential arbiter in the case, despite appointing the governor, who has run the region as a personal fiefdom since 1997.

Source: The Guardian March 29, 2018 23:26 UTC