The result is known in advance. The presidential election, which Vladimir Putin is sure to win, is due to end on Sunday March 17. After a first day of voting marked by sporadic incidents in a handful of polling stations, a mobilization is planned by the opposition, at noon, as part of an operation called “Noon against Putin”. “No to Putin and no to Putinism” or “Russians against war” [les Russes contre la guerre], was written on signs held up in front of the Russian embassy in Paris. Follow our live stream.
An opposition operation. If the opponents have no chance of influencing the vote, they nevertheless want to show that they exist, as during the funeral of Alexei Navalny when a crowd paid tribute to him in Moscow. Yulia Navalnaïa, who despite her exile promised to take up the torch from her late husband, called on her supporters to go to the polls at the same time, at noon on Sunday (i.e. 10 a.m. Paris time), and to vote for whatever what other candidate than Vladimir Putin.
Pressure to curb the mobilization. “Everyone was warned not to come to the polling stations on Sunday noon. Some received instructions from their companies, students were threatened with expulsion. They were almost orders to come and vote on Friday and Saturday”journalist Alena Nevsky assured franceinfo.
Putin facing three harmless candidates. The outcome of the vote, in which Vladimir Putin, 71, faces three hand-picked and insignificant candidates, is beyond doubt. The opposition has been decimated by years of repression which has further accelerated with the conflict in Ukraine, the backdrop to these elections.