The Russians who got here to solid a protest poll in Moscow on Sunday had little hope for political change, however took consolation from figuring out they weren’t alone in opposing Vladimir Putin’s hardline rule.
Defying the specter of arrest, they fashioned unusually lengthy queues exterior polling stations on Sunday, heeding a name by late opposition chief Alexei Navalny to vote at noon.
The crowd paid hommage to Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most distinguished critic, whose loss of life in mysterious circumstances in an Arctic jail final month had left Russia’s opposition disparaged.
“Year after year, we try to find ways to express our opinion regarding what’s happening in Russia,” mentioned 33-year-old IT specialist Olga Mironenko, exterior a polling station within the capital.
The Kremlin has outlawed any criticism of Putin or the authorities, a repressive flip that has accelerated since Moscow launched its offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.
The crackdown has despatched most excessive profile critics fleeing into exile or arrested and put behind bars.
It has additionally compelled Russia’s remaining dissidents to seek out alternative routes to precise their dissent.
Sunday’s “Midday against Putin” protest was “the only way to express my position in the current circumstances,” mentioned 21-year-old promoting supervisor Denis.
‘Honouring Navalny’
The OVD-Info police monitoring group on Sunday recorded dozens of arrests throughout almost 20 cities in Russia for protest actions linked to the elections.
Prosecutors had warned residents that participating in “unsanctioned” public rallies is a prison offence.
Putin’s victory within the contest is a foregone conclusion, with no real competitors on the poll paper.
Denis had solid his poll at a faculty the place Navalny scored his highest end result — 70 p.c — in his failed bid to change into Moscow mayor in 2013.
“Voting is a way of honouring Navalny,” he mentioned.
The loss of life of Putin’s high critic — which allies have blamed on the Kremlin — triggered outrage each overseas and at house.
His funeral earlier this month introduced tens of hundreds out onto the streets within the southern Moscow district of Maryino the place he used to dwell.
Residents casting ballots at a polling station the place Navalny used to vote — just some metres from the church the place his funeral service was held — additionally paid hommage to the Kremlin critic.
“I came to give my farewell to him. He is a hero to me,” mentioned Natalya.
With a mischievous smile, the 65-year-old pensioner informed AFP she had spoiled her poll paper.
Coming out of the identical polling station was 52-year-old Olga, who rejoiced after assembly “people who think like me”.
“I’m not alone,” she mentioned, setting off along with her son in direction of the Borisovo cemetery, the place Navalny was buried in mid-February.
‘Superhero’
Many had the identical concept: simply over an hour after the “Midday against Putin” protest, Navalny’s supporters crowded round his grave, barely seen underneath piles of bouquets.
They slipped mock-up voting slips that includes Navalny’s title between the flowers.
“The candidate that we wanted,” mentioned one message, left tied round a bouquet.
Regina, 33, was saving the numbers of human rights attorneys on the telephones of older girls who had simply given loud, impassionate tirades in opposition to the Kremlin.
She informed AFP that she wished to battle in opposition to “the feeling that has been methodically built up in people, to make us feel that we are the minority.”
Regina mentioned that it was almost unimaginable to gauge public opinion in a repressive state, with surveys unreliable.
“We can understand what is going on only by speaking in the kitchen,” she mentioned, a reference to the Soviet-era dissident custom.
“I’m not a superhero who wants to go to jail,” she mentioned — an obvious reference to Navalny who had flown again to Russia figuring out he confronted imminent arrest.
“But we live in a country where we will go to jail if we say our truths. So when I come to moments like this and see a lot of people, I realise that we are not alone,” Regina mentioned.
‘Not afraid of something’
Navalny had been Putin’s greatest challenger for a decade, blasting rampant corruption and refusing to again down after being poisoned.
Even from his Arctic jail colony — one of many harshest in Russia — he had known as on his supporters to not be afraid.
“This man was our hope… The only thing we had left was hope. And it died with him,” mentioned 27-year-old Margarita, tearing up.
She mentioned that she felt consistently at risk of being detained, earlier than pointing on the crowd.
“But when you are in this mass of people, you feel so supported that you are not afraid of anything.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr