Russians Go On Protests
- 18.11.2025, 12:01
The reasons for the rallies are named.
In 2025, at least 21 regions of Russia have held protest rallies. The scale of the rallies themselves is (so far) modest, but there are more and more topics for discontent, writes "We can explain".
In Novosibirsk on Sunday, a rally was held against the VAT increase and the car scrappage fee. On the eve of the rally, police detained its co-founder for organizing another rally (laying flowers on November 7).
In 2025, despite the "tightening of the screws" in the warring country, Russians went out to protest many times. The actions took place in two dozen regions, here are their main topics:
Opposing the increase in the utilization fee.
These were probably the most mass actions. The authorities have coordinated them. The largest rally took place in early October in Vladivostok, with participants shouting "stop robbing your people!". There were also actions in Kamchatka and Novosibirsk. The authorities postponed the application of the new recycling fee rules for a month (but did not cancel them).
Oppose restrictions on communications.
Actions (also coordinated) were held in September in Voronezh, Omsk, Novosibirsk, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Those who gathered demanded an end to the blocking of voice calls in foreign messengers and spoke out against the compulsion to use MAX. In Novosibirsk, the politician Boris Nadezhdin spoke - he wanted to organize actions in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but the authorities did not coordinate them.
For the preservation of public gardens and parks.
The residents of Saratov rallied against the development of the only park in the district. A policeman who came to the negotiations promised to shoot those gathered. In spring, Muscovites organized a people's rally against the development of the Krylatskie Hills landscape park.
Anti-war with Ukraine.
The only mass action was held in Perm - in the form of a collective picket. Its slogan: "for achieving a peaceful environment." The picket was coordinated, but during the picket, utility workers turned off the streetlights. In Moscow on the anniversary of the beginning of the invasion people carried flowers to the monument to Lesya Ukrainka. There were single pickets in other cities as well.
Oppose municipal reform.
Altai residents came out to rallies to preserve village councils and local councils of deputies, which regional authorities have decided to dissolve. "We don't agree that the Kremlin should appoint managers for us, we want our own people!" they said at the rallies. -
There were also rallies in Russia against the euthanasia of pets, workers went on strike over unpaid wages, and Kursk residents demanded compensation for housing in border regions, which they had lost due to the invasion of the AFU. Musicians across the country sang songs of foreign agents in support of the arrested members of the St. Petersburg band Stoptime.