Thanks for bringing this to our attention, bad news that it is. The Russians are a pretty passionate people, who have been crapped on pretty hard by their leaders pretty much forever. They might just protest, but they also might actually start something. I will start monitoring this thread daily, whether I like the news it brings or not.

Opposition is very weak in Russia - I dont expect any escalations. People who are demonstrating are mostly older people... Friends of good old Soviet Union.

Mainly population knows that Putin and Medvedev is not responsible from world wide recession, but over all - I see its good that people are using their legal rights and making their demands.

1) is a rally of 1500 in a city of... call it 600,000 including outlying areas a sign of major change, or slight discontent?

2) How many of the rally participants were used car dealers? The Article gives that angle pretty light treatment, but that's actually a massive issue right now. Those guys were importing staggering numbers of used Japanese cars until Putin closed that loophole, and a LOT of people got stuck with massive inventories that they can't move. I've heard estimates that there are over 100,000 vehicles in Vladivostok and Sakhalin, all used, all from Japan, and all unsellable in Russia. I'd be willing to bet that a significant percentage - over half - of the people protesting were there because of that issue.

I'm not trying to downplay the protest - a couple of my friends in Sakhalin have been affected by this, and I think their anger is justified. What I am questioning, however, is the implication that this story is about venting anger over the recession - aside from the fact that cutting off this emerging industry has caused a mini one in Vlad and Sakhalin.