Published 6 June 2012
What happened in the State Duma on June 5 could be the shape of things to come. In a Russian version of the filibuster, the center-left opposition party A Just Russia submitted more than 400 amendments to a controversial bill that would dramatically increase fines for illegal protests -- and insisted on reading out each amendment in excruciatingly pedantic detail. The little rebellion in the Duma is sure to embolden the opposition and illustrates just how much Russian politics has changed in the past six months.