Accustomed to displays of fealty and fawning coverage by the news media, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia appeared fazed when he was met by a chorus of boos after he began addressing the crowd at a martial arts match over the weekend. The Associated Press reported that one person could be heard shouting “Leave!”  The English-language site of Russia’s state-run news agency, in an article labeled “Features & Opinion,” described the swiftness with which the audience appeared to turn on Mr. Putin:  “Dear friends, today is a great holiday for fans of martial arts,” Putin, a judo black belt, began after Russian Fedor Emelianenko had defeated American Jeff Monson. That was when the booing began. Putin was visibly shaken, and paused for a moment before raising his voice to continue. The din only ceased when Putin praised Emelianenko as “a real Russian hero” and Monson had been led away.  While state TV channels later edited the catcalls out and made no mention of the incident, Russian and foreign media said it was the first time Putin had been publicly booed.  The report also floated an alternate, apolitical theory for why the crowd was in a foul mood: it was “simply the frustration of fans desperate to make it to the toilets.”  Were the boos directed at Mr. Putin, whose intention to return to the presidency in 2012 struck a sour note with some Russians? Or were fight fans perhaps expressing their dislike for the American fighter who had just been vanquished by his Russian opponent, as supporters of Mr. Putin have suggested?  A video of the incident, which occurred Sunday after a mixed martial arts fight in Moscow’s Olympic Stadium before a crowd of tens of thousands, has already garnered more than 500,000 views on YouTube and much speculation about the meaning of the jeering. (It can be assumed that mass displeasure at the stadium’s bathrooms is not what is drawing most of these online viewers.)  Convinced of the fan’s political intent, some commentators in Russia described the event as a watershed moment for public displays of anger at the prime minister, who remains popular in polls.  “Even though it is clear that a part of the audience was cheering, a significant part was no doubt jeering Putin,” said Konstantin von Eggert, a commentator for Kommersant FM radio, in an interview with the A.P. “We have never seen anything like this on this scale before. It is a symptom that some in Russian society are tired of Putin’s image.”  Part of that image image is as a burly jack-of-all-trades and a judo fighter, which might have made the apparent opprobrium of the martial arts fans more stinging for Mr. Putin.
An online posting of a martial arts crowd booing the prime minister attracts half a million viewers, and some commentators say it shows a growing disenchantment with Mr. Putin.