2017–2018 Russian protests
The year 2014 marked the beginning of a financial crisis that would reshape Russia's economic landscape. This downturn created fertile ground for public discontent to grow over the following years. By early 2017, Alexei Navalny released an investigative film titled He Is Not Dimon To You on YouTube. The video accumulated more than 23 million views within weeks of its release. It accused Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of extensive corrupt activities involving luxury properties and secret bank accounts. Authorities dismissed the report as coming from a convicted criminal and refused to comment on its allegations. Public anger also stemmed from poorly planned apartment demolitions in Moscow and ongoing truck driver strikes against the Platon toll system since 2015. These issues combined to create a volatile atmosphere across multiple Russian cities.
On the 26th of March 2017, anti-corruption rallies erupted simultaneously in more than 100 Russian towns and cities. An estimated 60,000 people participated across 80 locations according to independent observers. In central Moscow alone, riot police detained over 1,000 demonstrators by Sunday evening. Protesters chanted slogans like Shame! and Putin is a thief while wearing body armor and helmets. The Levada Centre later surveyed that 38% of Russians supported these demonstrations. Sixty-seven percent held Vladimir Putin entirely or largely responsible for high-level corruption. Police records claimed only 500 arrests occurred, but human rights group OVD-Info documented 1,030 detentions in Moscow including Navalny himself. Schools reported press-ganging students into lectures warning them about supporting opposition figures.
A new wave of protests emerged on the 12th of June 2017 with even broader geographic reach. Demonstrations took place in 154 towns and cities across the country. Tens of thousands attended while authorities detained more than one thousand participants nationwide. A Moscow court sentenced Navalny to thirty days in prison for calling citizens to protest. On the 7th of October 2017, rallies coincided with Vladimir Putin's sixty-fifth birthday. Between two thousand five hundred and twenty-one thousand five hundred people gathered in seventy-nine Russian cities. More than 260 participants were arrested during these events. By November 2017, police conducted selective searches at metro stations like Okhotny Ryad. Over four hundred individuals faced detention by evening hours. Many remained overnight in police departments before release. The pattern showed increasing state resistance to growing public pressure.
The Central Election Commission refused to register Alexei Navalny as a presidential candidate in late January 2018. This decision triggered a Strike of Voters campaign urging supporters not to participate in upcoming elections. Protests occurred in 118 Russian cities on the 28th of January 2018. Independent groups estimated around fifteen thousand total participants nationwide. Eyewitnesses reported four thousand to five thousand protesters in Moscow alone. Two thousand to three thousand gathered in Saint Petersburg. Mayor Yevgeny Roizman and Leonid Volkov spoke at an agreed rally in Yekaterinburg. Vladimir Zhirinovsky engaged directly with protestors on Tverskaya Street in Moscow. State media completely ignored the event while opposition leaders framed it as a moral stand against electoral fraud.
From July through September 2018, protests shifted focus toward opposing planned increases in retirement age. Almost every weekend saw demonstrations organized across nearly all major Russian cities including Novosibirsk and Krasnodar. Total participation exceeded two hundred thousand people over several months. A single event in Moscow drew approximately fifteen thousand attendees. Communist parties coordinated most actions alongside trade unions and individual politicians like Navalny. Large-scale manifestations occurred on dates such as the 1st of July, the 18th of July, 28-the 29th of July, the 2nd of September, and the 9th of September. On the 9th of September alone, over eight hundred people were detained during nationwide rallies. The movement represented a significant shift from corruption-focused demands to economic survival concerns affecting ordinary citizens.
Russian state television completely ignored protest coverage throughout Sunday evenings and Monday morning bulletins. Pro-Kremlin newspapers similarly omitted any mention of demonstrations. Public transport routes were deliberately altered on protest days to hinder access to gathering points. Students reported being press-ganged into lectures warning them about supporting opposition figures. Some schools tasked teachers with persuading students not to attend protests. Police conducted searches at metro stations and detained individuals in padded wagons. Over one thousand arrests occurred countrywide by May 2018. The Anti-Corruption Foundation building was evacuated due to bomb threats before staff faced detention. Equipment seizures followed as authorities charged organizers with extremism or unlawful meetings. Media blackouts and legal persecution formed the core strategy against dissent.
Common questions
What caused the 2017, 2018 Russian protests?
The 2017, 2018 Russian protests were triggered by an investigative film titled He Is Not Dimon To You released by Alexei Navalny on YouTube in early 2017. Public anger also stemmed from poorly planned apartment demolitions in Moscow and ongoing truck driver strikes against the Platon toll system since 2015.
When did the first major anti-corruption rallies occur during the 2017, 2018 Russian protests?
Anti-corruption rallies erupted simultaneously in more than 100 Russian towns and cities on the 26th of March 2017. Independent observers estimated that 60,000 people participated across 80 locations during these initial demonstrations.
How many people participated in the 2017, 2018 Russian protests on the 12th of June 2017?
Demonstrations took place in 154 towns and cities across the country with tens of thousands attending while authorities detained more than one thousand participants nationwide. A new wave of protests emerged on the 12th of June 2017 with even broader geographic reach.
Why did the Central Election Commission refuse to register Alexei Navalny as a presidential candidate in late January 2018?
The Central Election Commission refused to register Alexei Navalny as a presidential candidate in late January 2018 which triggered a Strike of Voters campaign urging supporters not to participate in upcoming elections. Protests occurred in 118 Russian cities on the 28th of January 2018 following this decision.
What issues drove the shift in focus for the 2017, 2018 Russian protests from July through September 2018?
From July through September 2018, protests shifted focus toward opposing planned increases in retirement age. Almost every weekend saw demonstrations organized across nearly all major Russian cities including Novosibirsk and Krasnodar with total participation exceeding two hundred thousand people over several months.