No free rides

Moscow

Retirees and police officers mounted protests across Russia this week, railing against a new law requiring them to pay for public transportation. In Moscow, several hundred elderly people blocked roads to protest having to pay bus fare. In Kaliningrad, police officers brandishing guns threatened to arrest bus drivers who didn’t let them ride for free. In place of the Soviet-era perk, pensioners and cops will receive a cash stipend to defray some of their transportation costs.