WITH some of the wind taken from their sails by a last-minute concession from the government, far fewer than the predicted 20 million marchers and strikers took part in protests across Russia against non-payment of wages and pensions, writes Seamus Martin in Moscow.
Surprisingly, what appeared to be the biggest protest took place in St Petersburg, by far the country's most liberal and anti-communist city, with the nominally independent NTV channel putting the figure at more than 100,000. But elsewhere, except in the far east, figures were disappointing.
On Wednesday, Mr Yeltsin's government announced it had found $2.1 billion to finance wage payments for some workers, mainly in the mining industry, and it is believed this may have affected the turnout.
In general, however, it was a case of traditional Russian passivity in difficult circumstances. This prevailed over anger at not being paid, in some cases for more than three months.
The country's most respected newspaper, Izvestia, has adopted a typical family, the Trofimovs from Voronezh, in the heart of the Black Earth region. The paper has campaigned for payment of wages for the Trofimovs, but without success. Yesterday it reported that the family would not participate in the demonstrations. Pyotr was planning to go to work while Yevgenia was preparing to sleep in after a night shift in the emergency ambulance service. They supported the protesters but simply could not bring themselves to stay away from work even though they were not being paid.
The parades were dominated by unpaid pensioners, supporters of the communist party and representatives of the newly-independent trade unions, with the most common banner reading "Deneg Nyet" (No money).
At Pushkin Square, the leader of the extreme right, Mr Vladimir Zhirinovsky, cut a forlorn figure in front of about 500 of his supporters as he launched an anti-western tirade, calling on support for "the person the West does not want. The person no one in the West will invite!"