January 19 Anti-Fascist Demo in Moscow: Video

Here is a short compendium of video footage of the January 19 march against neo-Nazi terrorism in Moscow and other videos connected with that action. Thanks to Vlad Tupikin for assembling and posting these in his LiveJournal blog, as well as providing the following annotations to each video (which we have adapted slightly). We apologize for the lack of subtitles throughout.

Memorial Video about Stanislav Markelov

This video was edited specially for screening at the demonstration on January 19, 2010. The authorities did not give organizers permission to set up a screen and a video project at the demonstration, however. This video is also accessible on the January 19 Committee website.

Video about the Demo and Clashes with Police near the Griboyedov Monument

This video is well filmed and edited. It begins with commentary from journalist Andrei Loshak. We then briefly see the demo by the monument to Griboyedov, the police attacking the speaker from the January 19 Committee, and then the clashes between the demonstrators and police. One strong moment in the video is when antifascist Denis makes accusation against the police commander Biryukov right to his face. I have two small gripes with this video. First, it practically doesn’t show how many people there really were at the action. Second, it doesn’t show that there were lots of very different people there, not just antifa militants.

The Antifa March Down Sretensky Boulevard

In this video we see approximately three hundred antifa marching down Sretensky Boulevard; they are going from the metro to the site of the first picket. They have just calmly ignored provocations by the cops at the metro station where they met up. Ranking police officers sweared at them and threatened them as they made their way to the escalators there.

Things Heat Up at the Griboyedov Monument

This video shows how things heated up after the police grabbed the megaphone from the speaker. The greater part of this video was shot from higher vantage point, and so sometimes we can quite clearly the groups of gray punishers in black helmets at work and analyze in detail their tactics: how they attack peaceful bystanders, how they capture and detain hostages, how they secure the perimeter in order to make off with their prey.

Dispersal of the January 19 Demo and the Demonstrators’ Resistance to Police Abuse

Vodpod videos no longer available.

This video of the dispersal of the demo on January 19, 2010, was filmed by Valery Balayan for Radio Svoboda. We see the police interrupt the speaker and grab the text of his speech and his megaphone from him. A scuffle begins, then the crowd moves behind the monument. The antifascists push the police back and toss snowballs at them. Political activist Vlad Tupikin provides live commentary at the scene. We hear people shouting, “Antifa! Antifa!” Lev Ponomarev negotiates the release of the detainees with the police. They are in fact released, but the police are afraid of the press and a ranking officer demands that journalists be removed.

A Video Digest of the Entire Demonstration

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This video was shot and edited by two cameramen (for Grani TV). It gives a brief digest of the entire demonstration — from the meet-up on Petrovsky Boulevard at seven in the evening, the beginning of the demonstration, and the first arrests (around 7:30 p.m.), right up until the lighting of candles after 9:00 p.m. next to the Griboyedov monument.  Here we see and hear the police demanding that the demonstrators fold up their banners or else they’ll begin to arrest them. We also see a kind of conveyor at work: the punitive forces in green uniform and black helmets run up to people, snatch them out of the crowd one at a time, twist this person into a terribly uncomfortable position, inflict pain on him, and haul him away. Then fresh punishers immediately take their place, followed by more of them; the interval between arrests is no more than a few seconds. We also see people walking down the streets and squares to the final demo without placards. There are lots of them: hundreds and hundreds of people. Whatever they might say, this is also a demonstration, a successful demonstration. Later, we see scenes from the final demonstration, the policemen attacking the speaker, and the beginning of the clashes with the police. The famous snowballing of the punishers in grey uniforms and black helmets is beautifully shot.

One More Video Digest of the Entire Demo

This digest reportage of the January 19 demo includes voiceover commentary by the filmmaker. The video includes live commentary by activists (Mikhail Kriger; the anonymous speaker who was asked to read the declaration by the January 19 Committee; Lev Ponomarev; and Sergei Mitrokhin) and the police (Colonel Viktor Biryukov). During the scuffle over the megaphone we hear one of the policeman shouting out the command, “Block people off!”

Solidarity Action by Parisian Anti-Fascists, January 19, 2010

This short video shows a half-hour march by Parisian antifascists, which wound up at the Russian embassy. Photographs of murdered antifascists, lighted flares, and the slogan “Fascism will not pass!” in two languages. A very dynamic and beautiful video.