Sawt Falasteen - At Russian embassy in Paris, thousands turn out for vote

Thousands of voters gathered in the rain outside the Paris embassy where opponents of Putin had called for a protest in memory of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Similar scenes played out in Berlin and other European capitals.

Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, received flowers from supporters and chatted with fellow voters in the long queue outside the Russian embassy in Berlin.

Navalny supporters had called for people to go to polling stations in a "Midday Against Putin" protest and spoil their ballots.

Navalny, Putin's most prominent rival, died in mysterious circumstances in an Arctic prison last month.

"I will use my ballot as a leaflet," said Tatyana Leontyeva, 43, as she waited for her turn outside the Paris embassy.

"I think I will write Navalny on it, I will say that Putin is illegitimate, I support democratic values," she told AFP.

Vyacheslav Dorofeyev, who works for a French bank, said that there "is the desire to somehow change the situation".

In Moldova, police detained a 54-year-old man after two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Russian embassy, according to press reports.

"He justified his action by some dissatisfaction he has with the actions of the Russian authorities," police said.

In Istanbul, home to tens of thousands of young Russians having settled there since leaving their home country, the queues outside Russia's consulate had reached 400 metres (1,300 feet) by the early afternoon, with most people having arrived for the midday protest appointment.

"We want to make Putin's job more difficult," said Yuri, who like his companion Elena -- who was wearing Ukraine's national colour yellow -- declined to give his last name.

The couple said they fled Russia in December 2022.

"I was devastated when Navalny died, I wept. That's why I came at noon today," said Vadim, 31, a Russian married to a Ukrainian.

In Belgrade, activists held up a banner reading "Putin is not Russia", winning applause from many of the hundreds of people queueing at the polling station.

"Some people plan to spoil their ballot, to make it invalid by voting for multiple candidates," said Peter Nikitin, an activist and founder of a local organisation for a democratic Russia. "If I have time, I will do the same," he told AFP.

Not all voters in Paris on Sunday were against Putin's re-election.

"How can you be against Putin?", said one Russian man living in Paris who declined to give his name. "He is saving the world."

Svetlana Myasnikova, a 53-year-old teacher said that she too would vote for Putin. "He is the best president ever," she told AFP.

as-burs/jh/bc

F.Qawasmeh--SF-PST