Russian Protesters Set a Plan for 2012
By ALEXANDER KOLYANDR and GREGORY L. WHITE
MOSCOW—The activists who organized Russia's largest antigovernment protests in more than 20 years said they would march again in February, a month before Prime Minister Vladimir Putin faces presidential elections, as efforts to build a dialogue between the two sides showed little progress.
Longtime Putin ally Alexei Kudrin, a former finance minister, has offered to mediate, but hasn't gone beyond initial contacts with some opposition leaders, according to people familiar with the efforts.
Demonstrators held a poster showing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that says 'Get tired! Go away!' during a rally against election fraud in Moscow on Dec. 24.....
The Kremlin's long-beleaguered critics have been energized in recent weeks by a wave of popular anger following allegations of widespread vote fraud in parliamentary elections on Dec. 4. Two demonstrations in December drew tens of thousands in Moscow, the largest such rallies since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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