Updated
Updated · NPR · Aug 17
About 1,000 Russians Protest Yabloko Hearing as War Deaths Near 300 and Fear Deepens
Updated
Updated · NPR · Aug 17

About 1,000 Russians Protest Yabloko Hearing as War Deaths Near 300 and Fear Deepens

3 articles · Updated · NPR · Aug 17

Summary

  • About 1,000 people turned out at a hearing on whether the Yabloko party could run in September parliamentary elections, an unusual street protest as police detained young supporters.
  • Nina Khrushcheva, speaking from Moscow, said the broader public mood has shifted toward resignation that the war will last indefinitely, mixed with annoyance over worsening economic strain and tighter repression.
  • Russians who want information can still reach foreign news through VPNs and some relatively open domestic outlets, she said, but the state is moving harder to block antiwar sentiment from surfacing publicly.
  • Roughly 300 people have died inside Russian territory in recent months, she said, yet most citizens still feel they have little power to influence events—suggesting further repression is likely even as pockets of dissent persist.

Insights

Will the quiet resignation of millions of Russians eventually trigger the collapse of the current regime, or cement its power forever?
With billions lost to domestic drone strikes, how much longer can Moscow hide the devastating economic reality from its citizens?
How are ordinary Russians using garbage collection and park defense to secretly fight back against the Kremlin's war machine?