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JONATHAN RUGMAN, Independent Television News: In the past few weeks, Russia's been roiled by the biggest street protests in 20 years.
For most of that time, this vast country has been run by Vladimir Putin, a former KGB spy who now stands accused of rigging last month's elections to stay in power even longer. Videos emerged of votes stuffed into boxes long before the polls even opened. This woman was filmed voting dozens of times, and officials have been caught on camera busily trying to change the election result.
Mr. Putin's hometown is St. Petersburg, where the mood is turning against him. "Give power to the people," they chanted last month. Others never had the chance to be heard. The 1917 revolution began here. So could this be the launch pad for Russia's version of the Arab Spring?
Channel 4 News has been given access to three groups in the vanguard of anti-Putin protest. These are the most notorious and secretive of St. Petersburg's revolutionaries. They're currently in hiding, and there's an international warrant out for their arrest.
Their name is Voina, which means war. On New Year's Eve, they set fire to a police transporter, claiming this was their gift for all political prisoners. They've turned over police cars in protest. The aim here, they say, is to create works of art which humiliate the authorities and inspire dissent.
Here, they soldered and screwed shut the doors of a restaurant owned by a Putin supporter. The three ringleaders live by stealing food and clothing. And they're constantly on the lookout for the police. They keep their home address secret. And it's so run-down that they have no piped hot water. Two of them were in prison for three months last year, until the British graffiti artist Banksy posted 80,000 pounds bail.
They're bring up a 2-year-old child here. And even he has to sleep in a cardboard box to keep warm. And Putin, they believe, will stay cozy in his position of absolute power, unless they escalate their protests.
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