(28 Jul 2018) Thousands of people gathered in Yekaterinburg on Saturday to protest against a controversial proposal by the Russian government to raise the national retirement age.
Earlier this month, Russia's lower house of parliament passed the first reading of a law to raise the pension age for men to 65, up from 60, and from 55 to 63 for women.
Protesters said one of their main concerns was the apparent short life expectancy in Russia - declaring that people wouldn't live long enough to get the pension payout from the state.
During Saturday's rally, signatures were taken on a petition to hold a nationwide referendum on the introduction of a moratorium on raising the retirement age.
The government argues Russia needs the reforms to boost economic growth.
Russia's economy suffered for several years because of Western sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea and a drop in world oil prices, but last year recorded a gross domestic product growth of about 1.5 percent.

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