Recently, mass opposition rallies have been held in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Protesters are often arrested by the police, and they end up in a pre-trial detention center. During the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 7, 2012, heightened security measures were taken. The streets in the center of Moscow are depopulated. At the same time, law enforcement officers detained citizens walking peacefully in the center. This behavior of the authorities causes outrage in the society. The aim of the action "Control Walk" was to find out whether it is possible to walk freely around the city center and not be arrested.
"Test walks" took place in Moscow on May 13 and in St. Petersburg on May 20. The organizers of the procession in Moscow were representatives of the intelligentsia: writers, journalists, musicians. The action was attended by from 2 to 15 thousand people according to various sources. Among them were many famous figures of culture, art and politics: Boris Akunin, Dmitry Bykov, Alexey Kortnev, Artemy Troitsky, Andrey Makarevich, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Marianna Maksimovskaya, Lev Rubinstein, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Viktor Shenderovich and others.
The procession proceeded from Pushkin Square along Chistoprudny Boulevard to the monument to the Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayev. As we advanced, more and more new members joined it. Some inconveniences were experienced by motorists, whose passage along Chistoprudny Boulevard was difficult.
At the same time, the march had an emphatically peaceful nature, it took place without political slogans, posters and provocations. People sang songs and had fun, the general mood was very positive. True, in the end the leaders could not resist and staged a small rally. Although the action was not authorized, the police did not take any measures to disperse the people.
In St. Petersburg, a similar action took place on May 20 and gathered about 800 people. The route ran through Nevsky Prospekt from St. Isaac's Square to Arts Square and back. The procession participants carried white balloons. An impromptu concert took place on the Arts Square. The action did not gather such a number of famous people as in Moscow, but the director Alexander Sokurov was noticed among the marching people. The event was peaceful and cultural. The police did not touch the demonstrators, but banned the performance of the song "Putin, Skis, Magadan".
The next "Test Walk" in St. Petersburg is scheduled for May 27. Perhaps the event will bring together a lot more people, as it will take place on City Day.
