I am Russian Protest Babe, Hear me Roar!
Filed under: Russia
Elizabeta Klepikova, shown above, a member of the Oborona ("Defense") youth political action organization, wrote the following on a Russian blog on March 20th (her screen name is Whitecup and she has her own blog as well, with pink petals for her avatar): 
Today I stood alone in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russian Federation, holding high my picket banner, calling for the release of jailed Yabloko party leader Maxim Reznick. Hardly had I take my place before I was approached by police officers who demanded my identification. It seems that the sight a lone protester greatly antagonized them.
The name "Yabloko" sounds like the Russian word "apple," which is why Elizabeta is holding the fruit in the photograph.
You probably can guess what happened next, though perhaps the manner in which it occurred you will not suspect. The officers told Elisabeta that she should be careful about standing around alone in that neighborhood as there were all sorts of dangerous characters about. And no sooner had they departed than a crew of young thugs appeared, approached the young lady and tried to rip the sign out of her hands. She fought back, they knocked her to the ground and fled. Meanwhile, not a single member of the "law enforcement agency" she was standing in front of lifted a finger to help her. She approached the nearest policeman and asked to register a complaint, but he refused to take it. She called the police by phone, nobody responded. When she called back, she was accused of illegal picketing, so she walked herself to a nearby hospital to have her injuries treated. The nurse who attended her said: "Nothing will ever be accomplished in this country, certainly not justice."
That is why Oborona exists. That is why I write about them. She is me and I am her. We struggle for Russia's soul as it teeters on the brink of a flaming abyss.
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