2018 Russian pension protests
The 2018 Russian pension protests were a series of country-wide protests and demonstrations in Russia demanding abandoning of the retirement age hike.
| 2018 Russian pension protests | |||
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| Part of 2017–2018 Russian protests and opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia | |||
Action against the planned pension reform in Hyde-Park Moscow on 18 July | |||
| Date | 1 July – 7 November 2018 (4 months and 6 days)
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| Location | Cities all over Russia | ||
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| Methods | Demonstrations and Internet activism | ||
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| Injuries | 2 | ||
A plan of the pension reform was unexpectedly announced by Dmitry Medvedev's Second Cabinet on June 14, 2018, which was the opening day of the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosted in Russia. During the tournament, any demonstrations were prohibited but from July 2018 thousands of Russians expressed their negative opinion on the planned reform of the pension system. The anti-reform rallies and other actions were mostly organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia party; however, other political parties, trade unions and individuals also contributed to coordination of these protests. The corresponding bill was signed into law on October 3, and afterwards some actions against the reform were continued, although with a lower intensity.
An intention to hike the national retirement age and the more so a final decision to launch the reform have drastically downed the rating of the president Vladimir Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev in Russia. In July 2018, just 49% would vote for Putin if the presidential elections were held in that moment; during the elections in March, he got 76.7%.