Protests in the Russian Far East are a symptom of wider discontent

By Michael Knezevic

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Photograph via Navalny’s headquarters in Khabarovsk

What happened?

President Vladimir Putin sparked protests by dismissing the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Sergey Furgal, due to a “loss of confidence” resulting from his arrest on the 9th July for allegedly organising several contract killings between 2004 and 2005. The president then appointed Mikhail Degtyarev as the acting head of the region, who after a hostile initial reception has since claimed that he too would be out protesting were he a native of the region. The territory, seven time-zones east of the capital, Moscow, may seem a world away from the ruling political class, but it threatens to inspire similar discontent throughout a country where unauthorised protests are usually quashed swiftly by the OMON (riot police).

This is the twelfth instance of a governor being dismissed under President Putin, yet the first to spark public unrest in this way. Typically, the reasons given for a dismissal are the ambiguous ‘loss of confidence’, corruption charges or an inadequate performance of duties – though the jurisdiction to make such calls is often unclear.

Who is Sergey Furgal?

Before taking on a political career as a federal lawmaker and then heading the public health committee for the lower house of parliament, Furgal’s business dealings ranged from the importation of consumer goods to the metal and timber industries.

Today, Furgal is a member of the nationalistic Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR). In 2018, he triumphed over the incumbent Vyacheslav Short – a member of Putin’s United Russia party – with 70% of the second-round vote. His victory was largely the product of a protest vote, with many doubting his chances, or even intention, to come to power.

Furgal has since been flown to Moscow and is currently at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre, awaiting trial. One of the key demands of the protestors is that he be released and restored to office, while others call for Putin’s resignation and solidarity with poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Why was he arrested?

Some political analysts believe that Furgal’s arrest was a political ploy, though the Kremlin denies these allegations. Furgal’s genuine popularity in the region could be construed as a threat to Putin’s United Russia party and its cemented presence in the status quo. The reality is that many such regional political figures were involved in the ruthless business world of Russia’s transition to capitalism throughout the 90s and early 2000s. During this period, organised crime, corruption and even contract killings were rife in the scramble to stake a claim in the newly-opened economy.

What is the significance moving forward?

According to polls carried out by the Levada Centre, the prevailing sentiment amongst the citizens of Khabarovsk was in favour of the protests, with 47% of respondents considering them to be positive, compared to 16% who viewed them negatively. Theories on the cause of Furgal’s arrest were not so clear-cut: 32% believed the move was politically motivated at the federal level while 30% believed he had simply broken the law. Speculation about whether the demonstrations would bring about their demands, including Furgal’s release, were not optimistic. 45% of those asked felt the authorities would not make any concessions, 37% thought there would be a partial compromise and only 4% were confident that the government would meet their demands.

Protestors in Khabarovsk and in the former Soviet state Belarus, where dictator Alexander Lukashenko is struggling to suppress protests in response to his universally discredited re-election on the 9th August, wield signs in support of each other’s causes. Yet, having witnessed President Lukashenko’s heavy-handed crackdown in Belarus, Putin understands the political pitfalls of using violence against the people. Instead, the Kremlin has kept its distance from Khabarovsk ‘in the hope that [the protestors] will lose interest.’

Kremlin-funded RT suggested that this approach has worked, reporting that Russians ‘are no longer interested’ in the Khabarovsk protests, citing a drop in online traffic on Russia’s domestic search engine, Yandex. Interest in the affair peaked the week after Furgal’s arrest, between the 13th and 19th of July, with 298,000 searches and 50,000 people physically taking to the streets. The following month, online searches had dropped by 82%, to just 53,900. Similarly, the local administration estimated the number of protestors had dropped to 1,500 by the 22nd August.

These protests may prove to be of little consequence in and of themselves. However, the unrest they have caused – along with opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s recent poisoning, protests in Belarus and Putin’s controversial constitutional changes regarding presidential term limits – represent a tapestry of growing dissonance between the Russian people and their inherently inert political system.

How many situations like Khabarovsk will we see before public trust is eroded – as it has been in Belarus – and the Kremlin’s hand is forced?