Protests in Russia have proliferated over the past few months, and the most recent iteration has provoked a significant crackdown by authorities. In June, the government acquiesced to protesters’ demands to release a wrongly detained journalist, Ivan Golunov. Thousands took to the streets on July 27, 2019, to protest against unfair local elections within the city of Moscow. The government had announced that independent ticket candidates would not be included on ballots. While these local elections do not cover significant political positions, the citizens of Moscow protested against the blatant restriction on citizens’ rights. As a result of the July 27th protests, nearly 1,400 people were detained. In the planning stages of this protest, the opposition leader Alexei Navalny was also given a 30-day prison sentence. These developments may signal a shift in the tolerance of the current administration for opposition and dissent.
