The June 12 rally, Russia's Independence Day, represented another opposition attempt to hold the much-publicized "March of Millions". As in previous cases, the number of participants in this event did not even remotely correspond to the loud name.
According to the Moscow GUVD, less than 20 thousand people attended the rally and the subsequent procession along the boulevards. Well, on Sakharov Square, where the second part of the rally took place, much fewer people gathered: many dropped out along the way. And the number of opposition supporters gathered in the square quickly decreased due to the heavy rain that began.
It should be noted that compared to the events of May 6, when the march after the rally escalated into massive violations of public order and clashes with riot police, the event on June 12 was very calm. The attitude of law enforcement officials towards the protesters was quite loyal, and they, in turn, refrained from insults, incitements and provocations. Perhaps because on the eve of June 12, searches were carried out at the residence of opposition leaders: Sergei Udaltsov, Ilya Yashin, Ksenia Sobchak.
A large amount of money was found in Sobchak's apartment, both in rubles and in foreign currency (US dollars, euros). Moreover, the money was spread out in envelopes. K. Sobchak refused to explain the origin of this money, saying only that these are her personal funds, which she keeps at home, since she does not trust Russian banks. However, these explanations, to put it mildly, are not very plausible. Currently, the investigation is establishing the legality of K. Sobchak's receipt of income in such a large amount, as well as whether taxes were paid on these incomes.
The opposition reacted to these searches with a set of habitual, standard accusations of the country's top leadership in an attempt to intimidate the fighters against the regime, in a departure from democracy and almost a return to Stalinist times. If we talk about the content of the speeches of the speakers on June 12, the speech of the notorious Evgenia Chirikova, who read the text of the so-called "Manifesto of Free Russia", is very indicative. These are all the same calls for the resignation of the current President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin, as well as all authorities and to the conduct of new elections. That is, the opposition did not say anything new, and they still have no coherent program to improve the lives of the bulk of Russians and overcome negative phenomena.
