Russians protest against pension reform
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
On Sunday, reportedly over a thousand Russians were arrested for illegally protesting against government plans for pension age adjustment. The protest spanned several regions across the country. The plan would raise the retirement age an additional five years, with new age for men at 65, for women at 60.
According to monitoring data from media project OVD-Info, 1018 people were arrested, including 452 people in St Petersburg, 183 people in Yekaterinburg, 60 in Krasnodar, 43 each in Moscow and Omsk, 23 in Perm, 22 in Kazan, 20 in Tver, 17 in Ufa, 15 in Habarovsk, 13 each in Tomsk and Belgorod, 12 each in Chelyabinsk and Lipetsk, 10 in Novosibirsk, and some 80 in other cities.
In Moscow, the rally started at Pushkin Square at 2 p.m. local time and anti-riot police pushed people away. They marched toward the Kremlin. On their way, they again clashed with Police and did not complete the route.
The protests reportedly started in the Far East and Siberia first, followed by western regions of the country.
Regional elections were also on Sunday.
The pension adjustment plan has reportedly coincided with a significant drop in approval rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sources
- "Russian police detain hundreds protesting against pension reform" — ABC News (Australia), September 10, 2018
- AP. "Protests against Putin's pension age proposals sweep Russia" — NBC News, September 10, 2018
- "Число задержанных на протестах против пенсионной реформы в России превысило тысячу" — BBC News Русская служба, September 10, 2018 (Russian)
- Sabra Ayres. "Protesters across Russia rally against Kremlin plan to raise retirement age" — NBC News, September 9, 2018
- "Russia pension protests: Police break up opposition rallies" — BBC News, September 9, 2018
- "Support for Russia's Ruling Party Slips in Regional Elections Amid Pension Protests" — The Moscow Times, September 9, 2018