Taking It to the Streets: Navalny, the Kremlin, and Popular Protest in Russia

Last weekend, Russians angry over high-level corruption and the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny protested in 120 cities across the country. How significant is the threat of these protests to President Putin’s leadership? And how will his government respond to the unexpected and well-organized display of popular anger? 

Please join us for a virtual discussion on what the Navalny arrest and protests may mean for the evolution of Russian domestic politics. The discussion will feature Carnegie Moscow Center (CMC) senior fellows Alexander Baunov and Andrei Kolesnikov. Baunov has written in the wake of the demonstrations about the meaning of the new protest movement and how it differs from past political activism. Kolesnikov’s recent work has used public opinion surveys and focus groups to evaluate shifts in the public mood. They will be joined by Elizaveta Fokht, a Moscow-based correspondent for BBC Russian Service who covered the protests in central Moscow.