As a sort of paradox, Moscow residents of those of other large cities have expressed greater frustration with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as his government has helped make them wealthier. Putin's announcement in September to run again for the presidency and the recent 49 percent victory in Russian parliamentary elections has effected protest in Russia.

One explanation for the backlash is the high level of public corruption, which threatens new personal wealth. A second is a phenomenon seen in General Gugusto Pinochet's Chile that economic growth can inadvertently undermine autocratic rule by creating an urban professional class that clamors for new political rights.”

“This is not a protest of empty pots,” said Viktor Shenderovich, a political commentator. “This is political, not economic. The coal miners came out because they were not paid. The people coming onto the streets of Moscow are very well off. These are people protesting because they were humiliated. They were not asked. They were just told, 'Putin is coming back.'”

From 2000, the year he assumed the presidency, until 2008, wages grew at an average of nearly 15 percent a year. But while salaries continue rising, they increase more slowly today—at an average of 1.3 percent per year since the global economic crisis in 2008. As residents have become wealthier, they have grown prone to venting their frustration with the political system. Political rights were the main demand at a recent rally on Saturday, attended by students, parents, retirees, and young professionals. The leaders of the new opposition represent a diverse array of groups, including minority political parties, which typically oppose one another as much as they oppose United Russia, the governing party of Putin and current President Dmitry Medvedev. Meanwhile, officials have portrayed demonstrators as revolutionaries dedicated to a violent, Libya-style overthrow. Protesters have several demands: the immediate release of prisoners arrested last week in connection with the protests; the scheduling of new parliamentary elections; the dismissal of the head of the Central Election Commission; an investigation of election violations; and the registration of so-called non-system opposition parties, which have been unable to wins seats in Parliament or put forwards presidential candidates.