VOA慢速英语--Thousands March in Opposition Rallies Across Russia

 

Russian opposition¹ leader Alexei Navalny has been released after thousands turned out to protest the upcoming March presidential elections.

"I'm free," Navalny wrote on Twitter late Sunday.

He added, "Today has been an important day. We have shown that not all Russia is ready to accept the monarchy². . . Thanks to all those who were not afraid to fight for their rights."

Police arrested Navalny while he was on his way to a rally in central Moscow.

The protests were part of a nationwide “Voters Strike” called by Navalny. The opposition leader has been banned from running for president over legal problems. The move was seen as an attempt to keep him out of the race.

Vladimir Milov, an advisor³ for Navalny, told VOA “We demand a real contest.”

He said that even supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned why Navalny is not permitted to participate in the election.

He added, “They believe Putin can beat Navalny, and we believe Navalny can beat Putin. That’s what elections are all about.”

Navalny and his supporters have called for a boycott⁴ of the election. They argue that a low number of voters will diminish a Putin victory. But it will prove that the government inflates⁵ his approval ratings.

Most protestors were younger Russians

Organizers said that protests took place in over 100 cities across Russia.

OVD-Info, a police-monitoring group, reported 340 people had been detained nationwide.

In Moscow, police also stormed Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and cut an online video feed of the day’s protests.

Most of the protestors were younger Russians, in their teens and early 20s.

Ivan Savin is a high school student who attended the rally. He said, “The authorities are used to thinking that Russians will just sit quietly and wait for change. Well, our generation won’t wait. We want a better life.”

He also admitted to telling his parents he was “out with friends” for the day rather than out protesting the Russian president.

His classmate, Valerie Koltsov, said that other friends felt the same way.

“I know a lot of people who don’t come because it really does scare them. They think they’ll get fined for not doing what the government tells them,” she said.

Another candidate asks for support

Television host Ksenia Sobchak is running in the election against Putin. She asked the anti-Putin forces to voice their anger by supporting her “Against All” candidacy.

But Navalny’s supporters have called her campaign a Kremlin trick to make the election appear fair.

In Moscow, Ludmilla Sidodova, a veteran of the massive pro-democratic movement of the late-Soviet period, argued real change required a much larger movement. She was among hundreds of thousands who once demanded change, and suggested a new generation could learn from that history.

She said, “I wish they’d understand that we did what we could. Maybe it wasn’t always enough. But now it depends on them. Whatever life they decide they want is the life they’ll have.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

participate – v. to be involved with others in doing something: to take part in an activity or event with others

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

5 inflates   

v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的第三人称单数 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• Mass advertising often inflates prices rather than reducing them. 大宗广告常常是抬高物价而不是降低。 来自辞典例句
• The device periodically inflates the cuff and takes a blood pressure reading. 定期气囊打气及进行血压读数。 来自互联网