Opponents of Russia’s new Constitutional amendments announce public assembly in Moscow later this evening
Representatives of the “Nyet” movement — a group led by activist Yulia Galyamina, journalist and Moscow municipal deputy Ilya Azar, and other local deputies who oppose Russia’s new constitutional amendments — have announced that they will assemble later today in Pushkin Square “to discuss the voting results.” The activists encourage “like-minded people” in other cities to organize similar rallies.
The “Nyet” movement has also urged supporters to photograph their plebiscite ballots and share the images online “in order to show everyone and prove to ourselves how many of us there are.”
Despite its focus on social media, the Nyet movement has a relatively small audience on networks like Twitter, Facebook, and VKontakte, where its subscribers total no more than about 8,000 accounts.
Voting in Russia’s nationwide plebiscite ends on July 1. The country is expected to adopt several changes to its Constitution, including reforms that will “zero out” Vladimir Putin’s presidential term clock, allowing him to serve in office until 2036.
Read more about the vote
- ‘2020. It will be ours!’ Art group projects political ad favoring constitutional changes on American Embassy building in Moscow
- Journalists uncover potential voter coercion among Moscow subway workers
- ‘Only together’ An annotated reading of Vladimir Putin’s first and only national address devoted exclusively to Russia’s plebiscite on constitutional amendments
- Red Square protesters use their bodies to spell out ‘2036’ — potentially the new expiration date on Vladimir Putin’s presidency