This study addresses the question of what accounts for variation in the number of protests across Russia's regions. The article argues that protests in Russia are best framed as acts of political communication, in which the protestors are making claims against local government entities as opposed to the national government. Viewed in this way, protest can be viewed as accountability mechanisms directed toward local and regional governments. Examining protests across 82 Russian regions from 2007 to 2010 finds that the quality of local governance is a significant factor in explaining the variation of the number of protests, whereas support for the national government is not significant.