The protesters are anti-western liberal democracy. Russia is anti-western. Pretty simple.
I remember seeing “anti-war” protests in Holland during the Iraq invasion. The Dutch protesters marched practically past an American WW2 cemetery. The irony was totally lost on those pinkos.
We see political calculations in everything the left does. The enemy of my enemy is my friend they think. Thus, no protests when a KGB thug goes on a rampage.