New forms of protest: on February 14 'St. Aleksej's day' (Naval'nyj)

Flashmobs in the courtyards of apartment blocks in the main cities of the country, going outside for 15 minutes at 8 pm, lighting up mobile phones or torches. The slogan is: "love is stronger than fear". Open letter from 180 intellectuals, actors, directors, writers and public figures: Enough with “political persecution”. Police checkpoints around the Sakharov detention center, where many of the protesters are held.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - On February 14, Aleksej Naval’nyi supporters will inaugurate a new form of protest, following the Belarusian example. Instead of marching on the street, people are invited to organize flashmobs in the courtyards of apartment blocks in the main cities of the country, going outside for 15 minutes at 8 pm, lighting up mobile phones or torches.

The lights will be photographed from above and disseminated via Instagram. The initiative was illustrated by Leonid Volkov (photo 2), head of the regional groups of the Naval'nyj movement, through his Telegram channel. Volkov has in fact assumed the leadership of the protests in recent days. The event will be an "act of love" towards the imprisoned leader, a kind of "Saint Aleksej's day" instead of the traditional Valentine's Day, and will have as its slogan "love is stronger than fear".

The idea of ​​putting all protests on hold until spring has been put aside: there will instead be various initiatives, but using different formats that will change each time. In fact, the "Leninian model" has been followed several times in recent days. During the revolution, the leader organized "popular actions" continually trying to surprise the authorities, changing tactics and even slogans according to the circumstances. Even the many "flower" or "velvet" revolutions of recent years provide various inspirations, to the extent that this tendency is now being called the "carnivalization of protest". Another definition is that of the "homeopathic revolution", in small doses, that are not harmful to one’s health.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has explained that the police "will not start playing cat and mouse, but if someone breaks the law they will have to answer". It is no coincidence that Volkov himself is currently under investigation for "the involvement of minors in illegal demonstrations". The Federal Investigative Committee (Cif, a kind of Russian FBI) ​​has asked the judges to authorize his arrest. Volkov replied with a shrug, stating that "this is a fabricated charge to make propaganda for the Cif". According to the coordinator of Naval’nyj groups, "if fear disappears, Putin will disappear too".

Meanwhile, 180 intellectuals, actors, directors, writers and public figures have signed an open letter to the citizens of Russia and the authorities, entitled "We do not want to live in a barracks". They ask for an end to "the practice of political persecution, police and judicial arbitrariness and inhuman violence against peaceful citizens by the forces of law and order".

The authorities are asked to guarantee citizens the right to peaceful gatherings, and to release all those arrested at the demonstrations in recent weeks. One of the best known signatories, the actor Anatolij Belyj, declared that "my heart is bleeding to see what is happening, defiling all our laws ... I love my country, I love this land, this culture of which I am a servant, like all those who dedicate themselves to it in the theatre”.

Police have organized checkpoints and surveillance cordons around the Sakharov detention center, where many of the demonstrators are held, fearing that there will be protest rallies and "mass unrest". The journalist Elizaveta Nesterova, through social media, reports that all the cars of the volunteers awaiting the release of the arrested to bring them home have been forced to turn away. Some of the arrested, released after a few days, said: "The authorities made a big mistake in locking us all together, so we could exchange experiences and plan new actions".

According to Navalnyj's strategies in recent years, the preparation for the September elections envisages the identification in each college of "non-Putinian" candidates, to whatever party they belong: not only liberals and moderates, but also communists and even Stalinists, which lately seem to be numerous. The important thing is that the elected are honest and credible, and therefore can enter the Duma not with the Putinian votes, but with those of the people.

The management of this political framework does not promise to be simple: The Russian Communist Party itself is issuing appeals to take to the streets on February 23, the feast of the "Defenders of the Fatherland" which commemorates the first mass recruitment of the Red Army in 1918. The communist marches thus intend to differentiate themselves from the public actions of the Naval'nyj groups.