Russian protesters aided by digital tools, self-organizing

It's a scene many Muscovites have grown used to seeing this summer as a new wave of anti-government demonstrations gripped the Russian capital: Two masked, heavily clad riot policemen drag away a shrieking teenager as the protesters around them try to free her.

But then the two officers abruptly straighten up when she kicks and shouts.

"Well done! That was much better," one of them says, patting her shoulder.

"But don't fight back or they'll hurt you." It was a protest defense training session organized by a group of civic activists at the Sakharov Center, a venue named for the Soviet Union's most famous dissident, Andrei Sakharov.

About 100 people had gathered for the training, including a dozen or so members of the grassroots group Bessrochka, which emerged last year. Its name can be loosely translated to "Protest Without End."
"Our members have very different political opinions," explains 31-year-old Artyom Abramov, an original member. "We are different people with a common problem: We want Vladimir Putin to resign and we want new faces in government."