“Putin is a crook! Putin is a crook!” the protesters chanted half heartedly. Journalists caught up to Viktor Biryukov, head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Department in Moscow for Interaction with Civil Society, by the base of the Karl Marx monument. Biryukov was busy trying to deflect a flood of criticism from civil society...

I wandered around vast space of Botonaya Square through the tight rows of people, easily joined in on conversations and everywhere felt the same thing: disdain for those who rigged the elections and joyful confidence in freedom and victory...

In the Vologda Region, United Russia received 33% of the vote, and that’s keeping in mind that it’s a stable, conservative and quiet place. This number didn’t surprise me one bit, since I already had a good understanding of how people from my hometown were feeling. After meeting with Surkov the other day, Vologda Governor Pozgalyov told it like it is: “What do you want? We had fair elections...”