...The rally far exceeded the size of one held two weeks ago at which the large turnout had surprised even the activists who planned it. Organizers estimated that 120,000 people came to Saturday’s protest. The Interior Ministry put the number at 29,000.
“A lot of people here, they don’t want a revolution,” said protester Daniel Gitelson, 24, a medical resident, who said he had never taken part in a protest before the one two weeks ago. “But Putin wants despotism,” he said.
“We don’t know who the leader might be, because there is no person who represents us,” Viktor Shenderovich, a popular writer, told the crowd. “But this is an expression of moral attitude. People don’t want to be stepped on.”
“I can see enough people to conquer the Kremlin right now. But we are not going to do it because we are peaceful,” said Alexei Navalny, a popular blogger and anti-corruption activist who has emerged as a leader of the opposition. “But we cannot be patient forever.”
A voice speaks that even czar Putin can't muzzle...
Mikhail Gorbachev calls for Putin to resign
The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to heed protester demands and quit politics.
Mikhail Gorbachev called on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin not to seek a third term as president next year.
He told the Moscow Echo radio: "I would advise Vladimir Putin to leave now. He has had three terms: two as president and one as prime minister. Three terms – that is enough."
Mr Gorbachev, 80, has been virulently critical of the elections that took place on December 4. Soon after the poll he said that the results of the poll should be annulled and new elections held due to "numerous falsifications and rigging."
"The results do not reflect the will of the people," Mr Gorbachev said at the time. "Therefore I think they [Russia's leaders] can only take one decision – annul the results of the election and hold new ones."
