22/02/2012 / RUSSIA
Protesters tongue-tied when asked why they support Putin
Footage of a rally for Russian Prime Minister Valdimir Putin has tantalised the country’s online community, becoming its latest Internet hit. The video shows small pockets of Putin supporters as they mill around the demonstration, but when asked what they’re doing there or why they are waving a specific sign, the protesters appear rather blasé or even at a loss as to how to answer the question.
For the last few months, tens of thousands of people have turned out for demonstrations across Russia demanding free and fair elections ahead of the country’s March 4 presidential vote. Yet almost every time, Putin supporters have answered back with a rally similar in size and scope.
Putin, who has already served as Russia’s president from 2000 until 2008, is now seeking a third term in office.
At a time when Russia’s rival protest movements seem to suffer from some sort of “if you can do it, I can do it better” complex, the video, which was filmed at a demonstration in Saint Petersburg on February 18, appears to support widespread allegations that the high turnout at pro-Putin rallies may not be 100 percent genuine.
Filmed at a pro-Putin rally in Saint Petersburg on February 18, the cameraman, Pavel Medvedev, approaches individual demonstrators to ask them about their signs. Subtitles run until 3’26. Video posted on YouTube by Tebedam.
Contributors
“I went to the rally because I wanted to understand who supports Putin”
Pavel Medvedev lives in Saint Petersburg where he filmed the video of a pro-Putin rally on February 18.
I went to the rally with my wife because we wanted to understand what kind of people attended ‘Putings’ [‘Puting’ is a recently coined term to describe pro-Putin demonstrations].
We arrived about ten minutes after the rally had started and estimated that there were around ten thousand people there. A lot of people were already leaving by the time we got there, which we thought was strange.
Most of the people who stayed for the protest milled around in small groups. I’m guessing they were probably work colleagues who wanted to stay together. It felt very different from other protests we had been to. Eventually we realised that a lot of the people there worked for the state. They didn’t even try to hide it. They were holding banners and flags representing their companies, factories, official trade unions, etc.
A lot of the people there work in subsidised state factories or as bureaucrats. Many of them were also working retirees. If they lose their jobs, it will be very difficult for them to find a new one, and they need money to survive. Even if they personally object to going to the rallies, they have no choice”.
Comments
pro-Putin rally in Saint Petersburg on February 18
Submitted by Natalya (not verified) on Thu, 23/02/2012 - 05:51.Hello! I'm from Russia. I can't understand what kind of connection is between film from some Arabian country and pro-Putin meetings in Russia. Do you know that there is a snow at the Russian streets in Febuary and our women don't wear the green kerchiefs? It's simply laugh!
Video
Submitted by Team Observers on Fri, 24/02/2012 - 08:48.We are trying to fix a technical glitch that makes the wrong video appear for some viewers, but not all. Please let us know if you still see the wrong video. Thank you!