Pension protests in Russia
A protester holds in his mouth a banner that reads “An all-Russian protest against pension reform” during a Communist Party rally Sunday in Moscow. Russians in more than a dozen cities held protests against the government’s plan to raise the retirement age for receiving state pensions.
MOSCOW — Russians held rallies throughout the country Sunday to protest a government plan to raise the age for receiving state pensions.
Several thousand people gathered in central Moscow for a protest organized by the Communist Party. Another Moscow protest organized by the A Just Russia party attracted about 1,500 people.
Other demonstrations were reported in at least a dozen cities throughout the country, including Vladivostok in the Far East, Simferopol in Russia-annexed Crimea, and Omsk, Barnaul and Novosibirsk in Siberia.
No arrests were immediately reported. The rallies had official sanction.
The plan was introduced in June and has passed a first reading in the lower house of parliament. But widespread opposition has persisted and President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings in polls have fallen notably since the plan was announced.
The plan has attracted opposition from a notably wide spectrum of age groups and political beliefs. Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption activist and Putin foe who has built his movement on relatively young and well-educated urbanites, has called for his supporters to rally nationwide next Sunday.