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Patriotic rally on Poklonnaya Hill over, attendance at around 138,000

“The actual number might be even bigger because people were coming and going,” an Interior official said
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, February 4 (Itar-Tass) – Patriotic political forces, who speak out against he attempts to organize ‘an orange revolution’ in Russia akin to the ‘revolutions’ that have occurred in a number of former Soviet republic and other countries in recent years, have ended a rally on Moscow’s Poklonnaya Hill.

According to Moscow City’s Interior Department, public attendance of the action exceeded heavily the 15,000 declared by the organizers in their request, by a factor of almost ten, as some 138,000 or so people came to Poklonnaya Hill.

“The actual number might be even bigger because people were coming and going,” an Interior official said.

The participants filled a vast square between the Park Pobedy metro station and the obelisk located in front of the World War II Museum.

“We espouse different political views but we are united in the conviction that we have a single country, Russia, and we won’t allow anyone to break it to pieces,” the widely popular political scientist Sergei Kurginyan, who acted as the anchorman at the meeting, said.

“The orange forces sought to dictate their will to 150 million people by bringing crowds to the street, but let them see how many people have come to speak up against them,” Dr Kurginyan said. “We’ll bring even more people if need be.”

“The orange say they’re dealing a blow to Vladimir Putin but in reality they’re dealing a blow to the Russian state,” said writer Alexander Prokhanov, who is editor-in-chief of the weekly Zavtra.

“We call for freedom and fairness of elections, for the rebuilding of our factories, for the missions to be effectuated by our submarines, and for the flights of our spaceships to the Mars,” he said with a clear reference to the symbols, in which millions of Russians born and brought up during the Soviet era continue taking national pride.

Publicist Maxim Shevchenko, who also acted as an anchorman at the rally, called the orange movement “an American fake.”

“We must decide on our own who our next President will be,” he said.

“We won’t let anyone break Russia up,” said Col Pavel Popovskikh, the president of the Union of Airborne Soldiers and Officers. “But Russia won’t replay the fate of the Soviet Union because it has defenders.”

“Let’s watch the actions of the orange closely,” he went on. “The election is still a month ahead and they’ve already declare it illegitimate. The Airborne Troops are together with you!”

Writer Eduard Bagirov pointed out the support that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is running for presidency in the March 4 election, had expressed for the meeting.

“As Vladimir Vladimirovich’s proxy holder, I’m conveying his greetings to you,” he said.

The banners the participants were waving read, among other things, ‘We Don’t Want Any Revolutions’, ‘We Oppose the Jolting of the Country’, ‘Make Election Free and Fair’, ‘Gazprom, Stop Feeding Echo of Moscow’.

The latter slogan referred to the liberal Echo of Moscow radio.