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|  04 декабря, 2012

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No Russian revolution after a year of protests

By Timothy Heritage and Maria Tsvetkova

   MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) -   "FIRST GRADERS"

   The Kremlin, perhaps with bravado and certainly with relief after a tricky start to 2012 when the protests were at their peak, says it does not regard the opposition as a big threat.

   "Fortunately, there will be no revolution in Russia. There are simply not enough young people," said Konstantin Kostin, a former Kremlin political aide who still advises the president in his role as head of a political think tank.

   He dismissed the opposition leaders as "first-grade kids."

   "I always tell our 'revolutionaries': Don't fool around, go and take part in the election, so that in seven or eight years you can make a serious election bid," Kostin said. 

   The Kremlin has denied launching a political clampdown on the opposition and accused foreign governments, including the United States, of meddling in Russia's domestic affairs.

   Most Russian media have remained loyal to the Kremlin, preventing the opposition gaining regular access to a mass audience except on the Internet. 

   The opposition has at times shot itself in the foot and played into the Kremlin's hands, by arguing in public.

   Although it tries to present a united front, the opposition  includes nationalists, liberals, ecologists and leftists and its leaders have failed to unite on much except a desire to oust Putin. Even agreement on a date, venue and slogans for rallies has often proved difficult at chaotic opposition meetings.

   Clashes with police at a rally on May 6, the eve of Putin's inauguration, further damaged the opposition's image and scared some supporters away from later rallies as attendance dwindled. 

   Some Russians even blame the opposition for new fractures in society, especially since the trial of the all-women punk band Pussy Riot over its profane protest in a Russian Orthodox Church over Putin's ties with the clergy. 

   A majority of Russians opposed the protest even though many disapproved of the two-year jail sentences handed down to two of the band's members. The case came to embody the gulf between liberal and conservative Russians.