Internet Activism Increases in Russia: Moscow Rallies Underscore New Ability of Opposition to Raise Funds Widely for Anti-Kremlin Causes

Wall Street Journal Europe reports that social media have facilitated attendance and fundraising for Moscow opposition rallies.

In one instance, organizers raised four million rubles, about $129,000, through a Russian online-payment system after an appeal on facebook and other social media.

The funds were used to support a Dec. 24 event that became the country's largest antigovernment demonstration in two decades, leaving a surplus of a million rubles for a planned march in Moscow on Feb. 4.

Tens of thousands turned out to protest Putin rule and widespread election fraud in December Duma elections.

While Putin has rejected a revote, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has called for dialogue. Former finance minister Kudrin has called for the March presidential election to be under a new electoral law, and for election commission chairman Vladimir Churov to step down.

Wall Street Journal Europe: "Putin is expected to win the presidency, but some of his supporters fear the election will look illegitimate, even if it is run fairly, unless drastic action is taken to restore confidence."

Read more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203899504577130242623440740.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Putin allies urge him to talk to opponents

The Washington Post reports that Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has called Putin to engage in dialogue with opposition protesters, while former finance minister Alexei Kudrin has called for the head of Russia's election commission to resign before the March 2012 presidential election.

Kirill said in a televised interview that "If demonstrations ahead of the 1917 revolution had ended in the expression of peaceful protests and had not led to a bloody revolution and a fratricidal war, Russia would have had a more than 300 million population and would have challenged or maybe even surpassed the United States from the point of view of economic development. ... Back then, we failed to preserve the balance and wisdom. We destroyed our country. Why did it happen? Because people’s protests, often fair, are very skillfully exploited by power-seeking political forces."

Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/putin-allies-urge-him-to-talk-to-opponents/2012/01/07/gIQAS2GEhP_story.html