Truckers protest punishing road tax amid Russia's economic crisis

A group of Russian long-distance truckers fed up with a road tax thegovernment imposed in already tougheconomic times have been staging a protest outside Moscow since December. Their original intentionwas to tie up traffic in the capital, but authorities blocked that move, and they've had to content themselves with parking their rigs near an Ikea lot on the city's outskirts.

CBC'sSusan Ormiston and Corinne Seminoff met up with some ofthe disgruntled drivers and heard aboutthe hardships they're facing and the frustration they feel with the lack of help they're getting from the government of Vladimir Putin.

AlexeiBorisov

Hometown:Ryazan

"All Ican say is that Iwish there were better times for us ahead in this country for the children. Ihave two of my own. That's why I'm here with the guys.

"I've had my freight truck for fiveyears. It's been getting harder and harder, and I've been getting paid less and less, and now to have this tax, well, this is going to totally destroy me."

ArtiomPolikarpov

Hometown:Ryazan

"For the outside, [Putin]is great for manyhe's sticking his nose into everythingSyria, Turkeyso good, so powerful,but in his own country, he can't even talk to the people.

"Ihave two kids and a wife,and now she is out of work. This is pretty typical here. I'm the only one working. Ican't even afford a sick day."

Alexei Rozhkov

Hometown:Kostroma

"I hope that my kids live in a normal country with a justgovernment. What they are doing to us and calling it democracy, well, it's some kind of feudal structure there are these kings and knights, and they think they can just help themselves to the destinies of millions of people. Ido not agree with this.

"There is deep-rooted corruption in this country, and there's no punishment."

YevgenyStaritsin

Hometown:Vologda

"I never had any respect for him [Putin]. Iknew he was taking the country down a road to destruction. Even when he first came to power,he did nothing. He didn't even have a plan to clean the garbage."

Sergei Kazhimakin

Hometown: Vologda

"This [economic crisis] is affecting every Russian. It will impact everyone. They will make us pay [the road tax],and then we have to go into the shops and pay even more on top of that.

"Then there's the pensioners. Their pension is miserly. How they will live is beyond me."