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The poster reads "We won't exchange privileges for thirty silver coins," and speaks for thousands of Russians protesting the government's attempts to replace longstanding subsidized benefits with a single monetary payment. By some estimates, as much as 70 percent of the population receives such support as free travel on public transport and low-cost medicine, and the government is anxious to reign in costs. But protesters -- many of them veterans, union members, and pensioners -- warn that the money offered falls short of the privileges lost, and will rapidly be eaten away by inflation. Some dismiss the small protests as vocal, but politically powerless groups. Others warn that they will grow into massive, nationwide strikes as average Russians come to realize the true impact of the reforms.
Photo: Vitaly Belousov/Itar-Tass
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