Russian opposition politicians have urged Putin’s opponents to come to the polls on Sunday at noon. The authorities have not intervened in the rapture very often.
Today, Sunday, the three-day voting in the show-like presidential elections ends in Russia. On the last day, the opposition organizes the Noon Against Putin protest rally.
Its idea is to arrive at the polling stations in Russia and at Russian embassies abroad on Sunday at 12 o’clock, so that others can see how many people are against the current administration. The rapture has been supported, among others, by the deceased To Alexei Navalny widow Yuliya Navalnayawho has announced that she will continue her husband’s activities.
Queues have not been touched
Queues have accumulated in cities in the Far East, Siberia and the Urals. Queues have been reported from at least Yekaterinburg, Sterlitamak, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk and Perm. Due to the time difference, the raptures start last in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad.
At least so far, the authorities have not interfered with the formation of queues very often. No one has been arrested yet, but attempts have been made to prevent the protest with alternative means. Novosibirsk City Administration has told about “provocative actions” at some polling stations. In Irkutsk at the polling station was arranged at 12 a.m. Christmas party.
The rapture has also been seen abroad, especially in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, where a lot of business people fleeing moved in the fall of 2022. According to the news site Republic, the queue in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, was more than a kilometer long.
The strategy is missing
Although all the major Russian opposition parties have supported the Keskipäivä v. Putin campaign, a unified strategy has been conspicuous by its absence. The protest only requires coming to the polling stations at a certain time, but does not advise how to vote.
Navalny’s organization has developed a mobile application that decides the actions at the polling station on behalf of the user. Foton-2024 randomly offers one of the options: spoil the ballot or vote for a candidate other than Putin.
An ex-oligarch who went into exile recently visited Finland Mikhail Khodorkovsky did not give publicly advise how to proceed at the polling station. Opposition politician Maxim Katz has urged to vote Vladislav Davankov, who has called for an end to the war. However, Davankov demands peace and negotiations “on Russia’s terms”. He voted for the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia, which is why he was put on the sanctions list of Western countries.