The key facts

  • Kirill Dmitriev called the Frankfurt riots 'Merz's chaos, caused by his unwillingness to acknowledge and correct mistakes.'
  • According to Bild, citing the movement's press secretary, about 100,000 people took part in the October 31 rallies; the count did not include six to eight cities.
  • The rallies took place in 34 cities, with 184,400 people registered; intelligence services and the Interior Ministry feared radicals could take over the demonstrations.

Dmitriev's assessment and the scale of the rallies

Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign states and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), commented on the riots in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on his X social media page, calling them 'Merz's chaos.' 'Merz's chaos, caused by his unwillingness to acknowledge and correct mistakes,' his statement was quoted as saying Gazeta.Ru. The remark refers to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but the publication does not report any reaction from him.

Number of participants and geography of the protests

The protest wave itself is tied to the youth initiative 'Generation Z Decides.' The German newspaper Bild, citing the press secretary of the protest movement, reported that about 100,000 people took part in the demonstrations on October 31, with the count not yet including data from roughly six to eight cities. The rallies took place in 34 cities across the country, and 184,400 people registered to take part. The outlet does not explain the gap between the number of registered participants and the actual turnout, so the real attendance can only be estimated for now.

Authorities' concerns and background

Even before the day of the rallies, Bild wrote that large-scale youth protests were planned for October 31 in more than 20 cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Frankfurt. Germany's intelligence services and Interior Ministry expressed concern that radicals could take over the officially peaceful demonstrations. Sources do not report whether these concerns were confirmed in the other cities. Separately, it is known that earlier in Berlin, students blocked the entrance to a university — this was one of the movement's first notable actions.