Change comes excruciatingly slowly in Russia. Brief periods of optimism typically end in catastrophic upheavals. But there is reason to believe that this time Navalny’s optimism and confidence has infected an increasingly large swath of the voting population — and empowered a new group of liberal opposition leaders.

The Kremlin is right to be alarmed. In a poll conducted by the independent pollster Levada Center last month, 37 percent of Muscovites supported the citywide protests, while some 27 percent said they did not. Those are striking numbers in a highly centralized country where the survival of the political regime depends on who controls the capital.

Other regions are also showing signs of following in Moscow’s footsteps. The ruling party may have won most of the regional elections that also took place on Sunday, but it lost many local council seats nationwide.

In Khabarovsk Territory, for example, Putin’s party retained just two out of 36 seats in a regional assembly it used to control. In St. Petersburg, the election was marred by what appeared to be blatant fraud that will almost certainly add fuel to the already raging fire.