Since the end of September, the southern Russian republic of Kalmykia has been home to a protest wave. After news broke that a new mayor with a scandalous past was to be appointed in Elista, the republic’s capital, city residents began organising public meetings - three of which have not received permission from the local authorities.
Dmitry Trapeznikov, a political and military leader from the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic", was appointed mayor of Elista in September - much to the anger of local residents. As a result, many activists with the “Elista is our city” initiative have been brought up on repeated administrative charges, receiving fines and community service orders.
More pressingly for some of them, Russian legislation states that, after a citizen receives three administrative charges, the fourth charge can turn into a criminal case.
