Russia is a strange place. On Saturday, a vocal Russian opposition held a rally in Moscow led by Gary Kasparov, who became the youngest every world champion chess player in 1985 but retired from the game in 2005 to devote himself to political activism. Kasparov was arrested as soon as he arrived, but according to the Guardian the 2,000 strong demonstration was without precedented in the seven years since Putin came to power. Here's how the paper described the scene:

Ranged against them were 9,000 riot police wielding truncheons and the might of the Russian state. And yet for one moment yesterday the demonstrators got the better of their opponents. After surging down the Boulevard Ring, the protesters began a defiant chant: 'Russia without Putin: Russia without Putin.' The sun burst on to a freezing Moscow morning. There was, it seemed, a whiff of revolution in the air.

'We don't agree, we don't agree,' the protesters chanted, waving flags and blocking the boulevard. 'This is our city', 'Revolution', 'Down with KGB informers'. A man held up a placard: 'I don't believe in Putin.' Others called for Russia's President to resign and go skiing.

The response from Putin? On Sunday, "Russian President Vladimir Putin rolled out the red carpet for Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme and a score of grizzled martial arts fighters in Saint Petersburg, state-run television reported."

Putin treated the fighters to tea and cakes at the chandelier-lined hall of the Konstantinovsky palace following a mixed martial arts contest.

Dubbed "Russia versus America", Saturday's contest was won by Russian champion Fedor Yemelyanenko who defeated US rival Matt "The Law" Lindland.

Television footage showed judo enthusiast Putin, dressed entirely in black and with no tie, greeting martial arts films veteran Van Damme in the sports hall.

Update: For those unfamiliar with Garry Kasparov’s writing, here is an outstanding article he co-authored five years ago on how the Soviet legacy continues to haunt Putin’s Russia.

And here is an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal this past January.
(HT DC)

Vladimir Putin and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
AFP Vladimir Rodionov