A PROTEST RALLY against Vladimir Putin drew the support of just 20,000 people today – far fewer people than were seen attending rallies in previous months.
Police in Moscow have put the number of people challenging Putin’s recent presidential election win at just 10,000, according to Bloomberg. City Hall had given permission for up to 50,000 people to gather on the city’s central avenue today.
Up to 100,000 people lined the same avenue last December over allegations about election fraud. That was the largest show of discontent in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
The movement appears to be losing momentum now though following Putin’s re-election as president, which gives him another six years in power.
This will be his third term in officer after ruling from 2000 to 2008. After moving into the prime minister’s role in 2008, he changed the length of the presidential term and when this six year term in office is up, he will be allowed to run again in the next election.
Although foreign states have said they will recognise the results of the presidential election, protesters say they will not.
“These weren’t elections. This isn’t a president,” read a banner over a stage set up on Novy Arbat.
The protest movement has been concentrated in Moscow, where Putin failed to win a majority of the votes and even came in second in some neighborhoods.
-Additional reporting by AP
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