Please join the Atlantic Council and the Free Russia Foundation for an event entitled The Sprouting of Grassroots Democracy in Russia on Monday, May 7, 2018 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Atlantic Council headquarters (1030 15th Street NW, 12th Floor, West Tower Elevators).

Russia held its most recent local and municipal elections in September of 2017. Though the ruling United Russia party dominated the majority of regional elections, the liberal opposition demonstrated rare electoral success with a series of victories in central Moscow. Typically excluded from national politics, several opposition figures have turned their focus to more decentralized local elections, fielding over one thousand independent candidates through grassroots politics. Hundreds of those candidates now occupy seats in Moscow’s municipal council.

The Atlantic Council, together with the Free Russia Foundation, is assembling a panel of local elected Russian opposition officials, activists, and experts to discuss the 2017 election and prospects for future independent and opposition candidates in Russia.