8 April: More and more local residents are taking part in the campaign to defend Ekaterinburg's city pond. (c) Nikolai Lebedev. All rights reserved.
One and a half thousand people, all arm in arm, line the edge of Ekaterinburg’s city pond. At a recent flashmob called “Embrace the pond”, city residents came out against plans to build a new church dedicated to St Ekaterina directly in the pond’s waters. The flashmob’s organisers did not initially frame it as a political event akin to the anti-corruption protests held on 26 March in cities across Russia, including Ekaterinburg. Rather, the event was more like a festival: it was all kids, smiles and mutual applause. And if a mere 200 protesters turned up to the first such event in February, the 1500-strong crowd that materialised on 8 April is, by Russian standards at least, a pretty solid turnout.
