Watching election protests in Russia now reminds me of a bygone era

My first taste of demonstrations in the country was back in the 1990s, writes Oliver Carroll

Protesters complained about the results of the Russian parliamentary elections (EPA)

Watching the Communists protesting election results this week has brought back memories of my first taste of Russian demonstrations in the late 1990s

Moscow back then was dominated by mass strikes and red banner demonstrations against the president, Boris Yeltsin.

A few months later came serious protests against the March 1999 Nato airstrikes on Kosovo. I missed being caught up in an incident where men with rocket-propelled grenades tried to attack the US embassy by a matter of a few hours.