Bubble burst: main hope of Russian democracy proved to be phony

Just a year ago, all of us were distressed for such a suffering "charismatic opposition figure" of Aleksey Navalny, who had been locked up behind bars for long, long 15... days by cruel Russian authorities on a staging anti-government protests charge. The New-York Times introduced this Cromwell and Robespierre rolled into one whose approval ratings were allegedly higher than Putin's as the only political force able to unite Russian opposition and change the situation in the country.

Incidentally, the NYT is not the first edition portraying Mr. Navalny in that light. Many official media have been keeping a close watch on his activities since 2011 when he showed himself to be a man to carry millions of the discontent with current power in Russia behind him.

It seemed that there was the light at the end of the tunnel. But time passed, and a miracle wasn't happening. Instead, the Million Men March turned into the Scarcely Dozen Thousand Men March. Navaly's charisma didn't inspire other oppositionists including his former Yabloko Party fellows who willingly came to his call at the beginning. Even his associates from the national democratic movement to which he feels belonged use other rings and subjects of protests.

It's no coincidence that Leonid Volkov, the head of Navalny's election campaign team, and Sergey Boyko, the Navalny's campaign coordinator in Moscow, are very pessimistic talking on future protests scheduled for May 5, 2018. In their Facebook correspondence the closest Navalny's teammates don't expect the repeat of the 2011-2012 successes. They predicted about 1,500 participants to come, at best. The presence of comrades from other opposition parties also isn't anticipated. Even pop and rock stars well-known for their criticism of Russian leadership and political engagement refused appearing at Navalny's meeting. It completely deprived the action of attractiveness to the broad masses of the people.

Since the USSR collapse, the May protests have become tradition due to the existence of Communist parties and movements in Russia. After the famous Million Men March 2012, other opposition forces joined it holding an anniversary of the day when Aleksey Navalny with the support of other leaders managed to unite around his figure a tremendous number of Russian people discontent with incumbent President's activity.

This year, people will take to the Russian streets upholding their freedom for speech and conscience, too. Will we find among the related news a small mention about Navalny's movement, however? Most likely we will. But it will be just a source of great frustration. The democratic bubble burst.