ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to identify the dynamics, logic, and evolution of the protest movement in Yekaterinburg. Based on the scale and intensity of the mass civil demonstrations which took place over the period 2011-12 period, Yekaterinburg became one of the most important regional centres of protest activity. The Yekaterinburg mass civil demonstrations stimulated the population's political activity, providing an impetus not only for the appearance of new forms of civil activity within the regional space, but also for the involvement of new political actors. The 2011 State Duma election campaign held in the Sverdlovsk Region revealed the main tendencies in the development of the Yekaterinburg protest movement. A new stage in the development of the protest movement in Russia was marked by an attempt by the local authorities at the beginning of 2012 to mobilise their supporters and to respond to the opposition rallies by organising mass counter-demonstrations in support of the ruling party.