A smaller rival pro-Putin demonstration also took place at Poklonnaya Gora in western Moscow. Its organizers have billed the rally as an “anti-Orange” protest against an opposition they claim is trying to mimic Ukraine’s 2004 revolution.
“The only candidate who has supported our anti-Orange rally is Vladimir Putin and we say to him: ‘Putin, you can prevent an Orange revolution [in Russia],’” said Aleksandr Prokhanov, editor in chief of the nationalist weekly “Zavtra,” addressing the rally.
Police said the pro-Putin rally drew 138,000, but attendance at pro-regime demonstrations has been inflated by the authorities in the past. In previous rallies, there have also been widespread reports of the authorities ferrying in sympathizers by bus. Moreover, teachers have said they came under pressure from their trade unions to attend the pro-Putin demonstration.
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