Kicking the Kremlin

Book excerpt: In the freezing winter of 2011, in what was a watershed moment, 100,000 took to Moscow’s streets to protest Putin’s landslide election victory amid widespread allegations of corruption and vote-rigging. A few months later, Pussy Riot hit headlines around the world when they were arrested following their anti-Putin demonstration in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. Now, Marc Bennetts takes us straight to the beating heart of the opposition movement, introducing a generation of Russian dissidents, all united by their hatred of Putin and his bid to silence all political adversaries. We meet a bustling cast of urban youth, blogging and tweeting to expose the injustices of the regime, and a rag-tag bunch of dissenters – from Bolshoi ballerinas to skinhead nationalists. Featuring interviews with everyone from Gary Kasparov to top Kremlin loyalists, this is the definitive guide to the vicious battle for Russia’s soul.