'The Rot Starts From The Top': Russians Protest Over Problems Big And Small

Disgust fills Mikhail Mulenkov's voice when he talks about politics. But life became so tough in his town in central Russia, he says, that he was "forced" to run for city council last year. Much to his surprise, he won a seat.

"This wasn't my success, it was a protest by the people," says Mulenkov, 37, who works in a building management company in Pereslavl-Zalessky. "People here hate the government because of the pension reform, because it's cold in their homes during the winter and because garbage is being dumped here and even more landfills are planned."

Perched on a lake and graced by onion-domed Orthodox churches, Pereslavl-Zalessky, 90 miles northeast of Moscow, is hardly a hotbed of opposition politics. Yet as Russian President Vladimir Putin approaches his 20th year in power, anger over bread-and-butter issues is sparking protests across the country. Even in sleepy Pereslavl-Zalessky, population 40,000, locals no longer hide their frustration with the powers that be.

After last year's city council election in Pereslavl-Zalessky, the ruling United Russia Party's majority slipped to a single vote. The party has become so unpopular nationally that Putin ran for reelection as an independent last year. In upcoming Moscow city council elections, United Russia members have abandoned the party ticket and registered as independents.