Sawt Falasteen - 'Noon against Putin': large crowds gather to vote at Russian embassies

Navalny, Putin's most prominent critic, died suddenly in an Arctic prison last month, and his supporters had called for Russians to turn up at polling stations at midday Sunday in a "Noon Against Putin" protest, in what is now seen as the opposition leader's last wish.

The three-day polls are taking place as Moscow's war against Ukraine stretches into its third year, with all prominent Kremlin critics in jail, in exile or dead.

Russians formed long lines outside Moscow's embassies in Paris, Berlin, the Hague and elsewhere. Some voters held anti-Kremlin signs or were dressed in blue and white -- the colour of the Russian opposition -- while others sang protest songs and waved Ukrainian flags.

In Berlin, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, who has vowed to continue his cause, received flowers from supporters and chatted with fellow voters in the long line outside the Russian embassy.

She was also pictured huddling with self-exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

"Obviously I wrote Navalny's name" on the ballot paper, Navalnaya said.

Crowds had earlier chanted: "Yulia, Yulia, we're with you," as she entered to cast her ballot.

In Paris, thousands of people queued outside the embassy, some holding anti-Kremlin placards. Many, including opposition figure Gennady Gudkov, said they had not expected such a turnout.

"I have lived in Paris for a long time," said Sergei Guriev, provost at Sciences Po, one of France's most prestigious universities who was friends with Navalny. "I have never seen such lines."

Guriev spoke at a rally of dozens of protesters who gathered in Paris on Sunday afternoon after casting their ballots.

Pointing to the long lines, he said it was evident that many Russians were against Putin and the vote would be rigged.

"Today he's committing his latest crime," Guriev said, adding world leaders should not recognise the results of the vote.

- 'Make Putin's job more difficult' -

Many Russians said they would vote against Putin.

"I will use my ballot as a leaflet," said Tatyana Leontyeva, 43, as she waited for her turn to vote outside Russia's Paris embassy.

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

Hundreds of people also took part in the "Noon against Putin" protest in front of the Russian embassy in Washington.

Yulia Traub, 38, came to vote against Putin even though she said she knew the outcome. "If you cannot do or say anything you must at least lie down and lay in the direction in which you want to move."

In Istanbul queues outside Russia's consulate reached several hundred metres.

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

In Belgrade, activists held up a banner reading "Putin is not Russia."

"Some people plan to spoil their ballot, to make it invalid by voting for multiple candidates," said Peter Nikitin, an activist.

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

There were no reports of violence elsewhere.

- 'Saving the world' -

In Tallinn, Anastasia Korobova, a 44-year old Kazakh-born Russian activist, said: "So many people don't want war, don't want their relatives to die in a pointless war or to kill people.".

In Vilnius, where an estimated 500 people were gathered, some held up posters of Navalny saying "Putin killed Navalny".

"We understand that this is a symbolic rally, but we also know that many dictatorships fell after similar events," Ivan Zhdanov, who manages Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, told AFP.

Also at the rally Olga, 40, who declined to give her last name, said: "Russia is gradually turning into a gulag where you can't talk."

However, not all voters 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 she too would vote for Putin.

"He is the best president ever," she said.

On Sunday, Germany's foreign ministry called the vote "pseudo-elections".

They were neither "free nor fair and the result does not surprise anyone", it said on X, formerly Twitter.

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R.Halabi--SF-PST