Putin must go

"Putin must go" (Russian " Путин должен уйти ") is a website and a public campaign to collect signatures of Russian citizens to an appeal, which aims at the removal of the Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin from his position of power.

In the appeal of the incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev is referred to as a mere governor Putin ( " Simeon Bekbulatowitsch ") and that charged with wanting to be unconstitutional gain a lifelong presidency and to make it impossible for the emergence of a free society.

The campaign was launched on the Internet on 10 March 2010 by activists of the opposition and several Russian cultural figures.

As at the date of the appeal of 34 public figures of various ideological orientation was signed: the human rights activists Yelena Bonner and Lev Ponomarev, the politicians Vladimir Bukovsky, Garry Kasparov and Boris Nemtsov, the conspiracy theorist Yuri Mukhin, the economist Andrei Illarionov, the writers Sachar Prilepin and Viktor Shenderovich, the rock musician Mikhail Borsykin, the political thinker Geidar Jemal and others. Many of them are members of the opposition and organizations such as the National Assembly of the Russian Federation. Later, many other public figures signed the appeal.

The opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Ryzhkov and Eduard Limonov supported the campaign as well, although they did not sign the appeal.

One of the main organizers of the campaign is Garry Kasparov. As of March 17, 2010, the United Civil Front in Moscow held a vigil in support of the campaign. As of May 2010, the peaks of the United Civil Front, several meetings with supporters in a number of Russian cities conducted. The organizers plan to set up an online network for supporters.

Found on October 12 and December 23, 2010 in central Moscow rallies for the dismissal of Putin with about 1000-2000 participants.

Until 4 February 2011, around 75,000 citizens of Russia had signed the appeal.

Media coverage

About the campaign has been reported in various Russian and foreign media, such as:

  • Russian media: Echo Moskvy, Novaya Gazeta, Polit.ru, Izvestia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Pravda, Delowoi Petersburg, Sobesednik, Expert, The Moscow Times;
665629
de