Flowers mark 21st anniversary of failed Communist putsch
Alina Lobzina - Moscow News - themoscownews.com - 8.20.12 - JRL 2012-149

Russia's new generation of pro-democracy activists joined Sunday's events staged by veterans of liberal opposition to mark the 21st anniversary of the modern Russian state.

file photoA pile of white flowers laid by a monument to three people killed during the failed Communist putsch in 1991 grew to the height not seen in years, according to those, annually coming to the memorial in downtown Moscow on Aug. 19.

The turnout, however, was unimpressive given the fact that just two days prior hundreds gathered in an unsanctioned protest in support of punk band Pussy Riot members and the tens-of-thousand-strong anti-Kremlin protests staged earlier this year.

'Express my solidarity with those who died'

Muscovite Artyom showed up at Sunday's commemorating vigil wearing a t-shirt with a portrait of opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the word "hope" beneath it. It's was the first time at the vigil for the 28 year-old engineer who has been taking part in Moscow's giant street protests since they started in December 2011.

"My parents were here in 1991," he said. "Today, they are at a dacha, and it's our turn now."

Another Muscovite, Maya, 25, showed up in a Pussy-Riot t-shirt with the words of the band's punk prayer addressed to Virgin Mary to expel Putin from Russia. "I wanted to express my solidarity with those who died back then. Now we are treading in their steps," she said.

'Putin's political revenge'

The jailed feminist punks were mentioned in speeches given later on that day near the White House by liberal parties RPR-PARNAS and Yabloko.

One of RPR-PARNAS leaders, Boris Nemtsov, called the two-year jail term for Nadeazhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina "Putin's political revenge" from the stage.

The rally was attended by just some 500 people, according to Radio Liberty's estimates, although some hoped to see a new surge of anti-Kremlin movement fuelled by the Pussy Riot sentence.

Neither the highly publicised case, nor the remarkable date could draw larger numbers of protesters. Communists and leftist-activists who attend opposition protests skipped Sunday's event, as well as nationalists who were uninspired by both occasions.

'I bring my children here to tell them the story'

People kept on bringing flowers to the monument all day, but after a rally staged near the White House, there was no crowd near the site.

Businessman Igor Gorsky, 40, his wife and two young sons came to the unremarkable granite monument on Ulitsa Novy Arbat over the underground part of the Garden ring in the evening, when the lower part of the monument was smothered with flowers.

Back in 1991, today's 42-year-old businessman was one of the first people who came to the spot together with other opponents of the Communist government.

"Everything happened in front of my own eyes," Gorsky said. "I bring my children here to tell them the story and I hope that if there's a need to do the same thing in the future they won't be afraid".

Keywords: Russia, History, Soviet Union - Russian News - Russia - Johnson's Russia List

Russia's new generation of pro-democracy activists joined Sunday's events staged by veterans of liberal opposition to mark the 21st anniversary of the modern Russian state.

file photoA pile of white flowers laid by a monument to three people killed during the failed Communist putsch in 1991 grew to the height not seen in years, according to those, annually coming to the memorial in downtown Moscow on Aug. 19.

The turnout, however, was unimpressive given the fact that just two days prior hundreds gathered in an unsanctioned protest in support of punk band Pussy Riot members and the tens-of-thousand-strong anti-Kremlin protests staged earlier this year.

'Express my solidarity with those who died'

Muscovite Artyom showed up at Sunday's commemorating vigil wearing a t-shirt with a portrait of opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the word "hope" beneath it. It's was the first time at the vigil for the 28 year-old engineer who has been taking part in Moscow's giant street protests since they started in December 2011.

"My parents were here in 1991," he said. "Today, they are at a dacha, and it's our turn now."

Another Muscovite, Maya, 25, showed up in a Pussy-Riot t-shirt with the words of the band's punk prayer addressed to Virgin Mary to expel Putin from Russia. "I wanted to express my solidarity with those who died back then. Now we are treading in their steps," she said.

'Putin's political revenge'

The jailed feminist punks were mentioned in speeches given later on that day near the White House by liberal parties RPR-PARNAS and Yabloko.

One of RPR-PARNAS leaders, Boris Nemtsov, called the two-year jail term for Nadeazhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina "Putin's political revenge" from the stage.

The rally was attended by just some 500 people, according to Radio Liberty's estimates, although some hoped to see a new surge of anti-Kremlin movement fuelled by the Pussy Riot sentence.

Neither the highly publicised case, nor the remarkable date could draw larger numbers of protesters. Communists and leftist-activists who attend opposition protests skipped Sunday's event, as well as nationalists who were uninspired by both occasions.

'I bring my children here to tell them the story'

People kept on bringing flowers to the monument all day, but after a rally staged near the White House, there was no crowd near the site.

Businessman Igor Gorsky, 40, his wife and two young sons came to the unremarkable granite monument on Ulitsa Novy Arbat over the underground part of the Garden ring in the evening, when the lower part of the monument was smothered with flowers.

Back in 1991, today's 42-year-old businessman was one of the first people who came to the spot together with other opponents of the Communist government.

"Everything happened in front of my own eyes," Gorsky said. "I bring my children here to tell them the story and I hope that if there's a need to do the same thing in the future they won't be afraid".