VZCZCXRO4038
PP RUEHBW RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #1242/01 1231333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021333Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7904
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 001242 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI ELAB RS
SUBJECT: BLUE SKIES, BALLOONS AND BLATHER - MAY DAY IN 
RUSSIA 
 
REF: A. MOSCOW 1192 
     ¶B. ST. PETERSBURG 83 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) Under clear blue skies over most of the country, 
Russia celebrated the beginning of the spring season amid a 
cacophony of traditional labor-oriented messages coming from 
all political perspectives.  The holiday, solely dedicated to 
labor during Soviet times, has become a celebration of 
spring, and an opportunity for political leaders to 
demonstrate their political mettle on issues working people 
and pensioners care about.  This year's celebration was 
notable for United Russia co-opting the event for its own 
political purposes and the ugly intrusion of real working 
class economic issues into the celebration.  While 
"provocateurs" and anarchists disrupted some events, the 
Kremlin's mostly hands off approach to the marchers helped 
avoid international condemnation in the days leading up to 
the May 7 inauguration of president-elect Medvedev.  Turnout 
for events around the country was relatively low as most 
Russians opted to take advantage of a long holiday weekend 
and took to their dachas instead of taking to the streets. 
End Summary. 
 
 
DAY OF SPRING AND LABOR 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The first of May, known as International Worker's 
Solidarity Day under the Soviet system, is now celebrated by 
Russians as the Day of Spring and Labor.  It is an event 
intended to be celebrated with parades, concerts, food and 
drink.  The holiday is observed from the 1st to the 3rd of 
May, so many Russians use it as an opportunity to get out of 
town and begin their traditional warm weather habit of going 
to summer cottages on the weekend.  The holiday has not lost 
it origins as a day dedicated to working people.  Nearly all 
political parties, with ruling-party United Russia leading 
the way, used the day to promote what they are doing on 
behalf of workers and retirees.  State television reported 
that 1.5 million people participated in events around the 
country. 
 
UNITED RUSSIA CO-OPTS DAY OF SPRING AND LABOR 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Befitting its near-total dominance of the political 
landscape, United Russia had the most visible presence during 
the holiday.  In Moscow, the party joined with the Federation 
of Independent Professional Unions to promote its "Strategy 
-- 2020," and to reaffirm the need for wage increases to keep 
up with inflation. 
 
¶4. (U) The party claimed 25,000 people participated in their 
Moscow March along Tverskaya, a major Moscow artery, although 
this figure was not substantiated in any reporting.  Party 
leaders, including Chairman of the Duma International Affairs 
Committee Konstantin Kosachev, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and 
representatives of United Russia's youth group Molodaya 
Guardia spoke at the event. 
 
¶5. (U) In Yekaterinburg, the holiday was a United Russia 
affair with bureaucrats, students and pensioners taking part. 
 A total of 25,000 people were expected to participate in the 
party's rally but, according to consulate officers, only 
10,000 showed up.  The head of United Russia in Yekaterinburg 
and the head of the official trade unions led the rally.  The 
Yekaterinburg holiday rally, which had typically been held 
near the Lenin monument, shifted venues and message. 
Eschewing any reference to the Bolshevik origins of the 
holiday, the participants extolled Putin and called for 
"decent work and decent salaries."  A much smaller counter 
demonstration was held by members of the Communist Party and 
the now-defunct Pensioners' Party. 
 
¶6. (U) The Communist party geared up its creaking party 
machine to celebrate its traditional role as advocate for 
labor and the working man, with rallies across Russia 
boasting the usual sea of red flags, senior citizens and 
strident speeches by the party leadership.  In Moscow, party 
leader Gennadiy Zyuganov and his top lieutenants led a march 
and rally at Teatralnaya Square, adjacent to Red Square, 
which included an estimated four to five thousand 
participants.  Based on reports of the party's press service, 
Zyuganov broke no new ground in his address to the crowd, 
blaming the Putin administration for the continuing drop in 
population, for the failure to invest in infrastructure, and 
even for forest fires that have been raging across parts of 
 
MOSCOW 00001242  002 OF 002 
 
 
Russia in recent weeks.  He lamented the condition of 
pensioners living on five thousand rubles a month, and 
complained that the government had not provided new equipment 
to the military.  Zyuganov vilified the West, condemning NATO 
expansion into Ukraine and Georgia, the "split of the Serbian 
people" through recognition of Kosovo, and promised support 
to the Abkhaz in their conflict with the Georgian government. 
 The party claimed a bevy of rallies throughout the country, 
with up to 10,000 participants in the party stronghold of 
Krasnodar and similarly strong showings in Rostov-on-Don, 
Belgorod and Novosibirsk. 
 
¶7. (U) Just Russia used the occasion to demonstrate both its 
left-wing credentials (part of its on going effort to court 
Communist Party voters) and its problems with Moscow 
authorities (part of its attempt to demonstrate its status as 
a persecuted opposition party).  The holiday provided the 
party its first opportunity to publicly display its new 
colors -- yellow and green.  At its recent party congress 
(ref A), the party had abandoned the traditional red of 
socialist parties and adopted green in an effort to attach 
itself to the burgeoning ecological movement in Russia.  The 
party claimed thousands of participants at its march and 
subsequent rally.  Originally Just Russia planned a march 
down Tverskaya but city authorities moved the march route to 
the less central artery of Tsvetnoy Boulevard.  Leaders 
decried this change and used it to bolster their claim that 
they are an opposition party, and therefore suffer the whims 
of Moscow authorities.  Like the Communists, Just Russia 
decried the rate of inflation and called for increases in 
wages and pensions to compensate. 
 
AUTHORITIES TOLERATE MOST POINTS OF VIEW 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) The day's events were notable for the level of 
tolerance exhibited by law enforcement.  While the usual 
large numbers of militia (more than 100,000 according to the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs) were present on streets 
throughout Russian cities as they would be for any large 
gathering, their presence was less threatening and their 
mission appeared to be one of maintaining order, as opposed 
to preventing marches from taking place.  An "Other Russia" 
contingent led by Garry Kasparov was allowed to march down 
Nevskiy Prospekt, the main avenue through central St. 
Petersburg unmolested by police, who also took no action 
against "provocateurs" who threw objects and otherwise 
taunted Other Russia participants during the march (ref B). 
 
¶9. (U) Small groups of anarchists were detained throughout 
Moscow for participating in unsanctioned events. In addition, 
an altercation took place at a concert held at the Russian 
University of Friendship of Nations.  The concert, at which 
there were 10,000-15,000 spectators had to be stopped when a 
fight broke out and law enforcement intervened and seized 
weapons.  There were detentions in other cities as well. 
According to news reports, activists with ties to Yabloko and 
the Communist Party, who chanted "Putin, you're fired," were 
detained in Saratov. 
 
¶10. (U) The Movement Against Illegal Immigration marched in 
central Moscow under banners calling for higher wages, as 
well as their xenophobic standbys: Russia for Russians, 
Moscow for Russians, and calls for the expulsion of illegal 
immigrants and reduced quotas for foreign workers.  According 
to newspaper reports prior to May 1, the march was sanctioned 
by Moscow's mayor.  Marches by the movement were planned for 
other cities including Volgograd. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) With only a handful of days to go before Dmitriy 
Medvedev becomes president, the Kremlin's low-key approach to 
the range of demonstrators helped avoid another spate of 
international criticism of what has been its policy of 
severely constraining the right to free assembly and 
political speech.  Most Russians were focused more on the 
warm weather and long holiday weekend than on the relatively 
minor political displays taking place on the streets. 
 
 
 
BURNS