Russian opposition members called on eligible voters to join the “Noon against Putin” protest at polling stations across the country on Sunday, the final day of voting in Russia’s three-day presidential election.
Voters were asked to crowd polling stations at exactly noon in Russia’s 11 time zones to protest without endangering themselves by violating Moscow’s strict anti-protest law.
Many protests have erupted since Russia’s presidential election started on Friday, where President Vladimir Putin is all but certain to win. Several arrests have been made, including against Russians accused of pouring dye into ballot boxes and arson attacks.
What do we know about ‘Noon against Putin’?
The protest initiative was first publicized by late opposition activist Alexei Navalny, before his death at a remote Arctic penal colony last month.
In social media posts on February 1, Navalny described the protest as “legal and safe” and called on all Putin opponents to join.
“The ‘Noon Against Putin’ action perfectly unites all the components. Voting, agitation, physical presence, and solidarity with those who will be with you at the polling station at that time,” Navalny wrote at the time.
His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, echoed his call, urging protesters to show up in large numbers at the same time to overwhelm polling stations.
She called on protesters to either spoil their ballots by writing “Navalny” on them or to vote for candidates other than Putin.
Initiative says protesters show up
The “Noon against Putin” initiative posted on its Telegram account on Sunday photos of crowds lining up to vote, saying the protests were already taking place.
It shared photos showing crowds of voters purportedly in Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.
“Yes, some of us are scared. Yes, the choice is not easy. But we are the people. And we will cope with both the choice and the responsibility,” the initiative wrote ahead of the protest.
Russia has over 114 million eligible voters. They include voters in four territories it illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2022.
By Saturday evening, over 63 million voters had gone to the polls, according to the Russian Central Election Committee.
rmt/sms (AFP, Reuters)
