They are protesting but in Russia they have special police trained to fight protesters and these guys are brutal. They don't care if you're a woman or a child, everybody gets hit with batons and sprayed with tear gas the same way and then they drag you to a prison transport and you don't get a phone call to family like in the US, or a hot meal. More likely they'll make you take your clothes off and leave you naked for the night or come back in a few hours to beat you. You don't get to experience this in "normal" countries. You need big balls to be an anti government protester in Russia or Belarus.