There is trouble in Putin's paradise:
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Russia's Far East in a rare show of defiance against the Kremlin as they protested the arrest of a popular governor.
The huge rallies in the city of Khabarovsk on the border with China present a growing headache for the Kremlin, observers say, and come after President Vladimir Putin this month oversaw a controversial vote that allows him to extend his hold on power until 2036.
The protests in Khabarovsk, a city of some 600,000 people, began a week ago following the sudden arrest of popular governor Sergei Furgal in a murder probe.
While many expressed support for the arrested politician, some of the protest signs and chants were distinctly anti-Putin.
There have been smaller protests in other cities, too.
I don't assume the disintegration of the Russian empire that had a couple rounds in 1989 and 1991 is over.
And China has great incentive to spark such dissent and perhaps secession in Russia's formerly Chinese Far East.
