The Decembrists Failed. But What about February or March 2022?

Ever since the Decembrist revolt—if not since Alexander Radishchev published Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow in 1790—the idea of an open, empathetic society in Russia has always been alive and always marginal. 

Given today’s saturation of the media with information, there is a chance that the decisive events will take place in the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg rather than on the front line. The protests need not be bloody, but they must be numerous and resolute, like those in Moscow in August 1991. 

This could be Russia’s display for the world. A good one or a bad one.