In recent times we have seen two big anti-establishment demonstrations in Moscow. Unsanctioned and harshly dealt with. The second one saw more people arrested at one event since around the time of the Russian Revolution The main gripe of the demonstrators was, ostensibly, the inability of independent candidates to run for the Moscow city administration (mayoral) elections. Hopefuls unaligned to officially sanctioned parties were denied the chance of having a shot at being elected. Why? Because they might get elected and pose a threat to the stability of the regime.

However, the discontent among many runs much deeper than the purported reason for staging these rallies. They are pissed of with the lack of freedoms in Russia as a whole, and the two recent popular manifestations are a reflection of that dissatifaction.

Nevertheless, this groundswell of anger is not shared by the majority of the people, if opinion polls are anything to go by. Only about 28-35% supported the actions of the demonstrators. The rest are either happy with the way things are going in Russia, in particular supportive of President Putin, or too scared to voice a dissenting opinion. Moreover, with mainstream media effectively under government control, events such as the recent Moscow demonstrations don’t get much coverage. People tend to find out about these things on the Internet thanks to a growing army of bloggers and vloggers.

Whether these recent actions in Russia translate into something bigger, only time will tell.