How will Vladimir Putin handle Russia’s continuing protests?

It is obvious that the protesters aren’t going away. This is a generation that has never experienced the Gulags and from all indications these new Russian citizen-voters seem to possess no fear about forcing Russia to adopt the direction that outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev wanted to steer the country.

A protest sign behind these OMOH (Interior Ministry troops) reads "Vova (Putin), are you a fool?"

Earlier this week protesters in Moscow chanted “Shame to NTV!” and “Russia without Putin! as dozens of people picketed in the shadow of Moscow’s TV tower over footage that accused the opposition of paying anti-government protesters.

Much of the focus of the protesters anger was a film which had aired on NTV – a channel owned by state-run firm Gazprom. The film, The Anatomy of Protest, claimed that protesters to Putin’s election as president had received “money and cookies” from foreign governments. Just like Putin’s earlier comment that the white ribbons were condoms, the reference to “money and cookies” struck ordinary citizens as childish and insulting.

Not only has there been a backlash on social media but several well-known Russian journalists accused NTV of lying about the protest movement.

Russian police arrested young and old alike as demonstrators wore white ribbons symbolizing their desire that Mr. Putin step down. Among the approximately 100 citizens detained were opposition leaders Boris Nemtsov and Sergei Udaltsov.