“Noon against Putin” sounded in Russia but also in Paris.
The opposition had called on Russian citizens to go to the polling stations at that time to honor the memory of opponent Alexeï Navalny.
Thousands of people lined up in front of the Russian embassy on Boulevard Lannes, in the 16th arrondissement.
Many of them denounced a presidential election tailor-made for the re-election of Vladimir Putin.
In the rain, many wearing raincoats and/or umbrellas, these voters waited patiently in line for more than 600 m.
“I’m going to use my ballot as a leaflet,” said Tatiana Leontieva, 43.
“I think I'm going to write Navalny on it, I'm going to say that Putin is illegitimate, I support democratic values,” she told AFP.
A woman holds a sign reading "Putin is a murderer" during a rally of Navalny supporters near the Russian embassy.
AFP/Bertrand GUAY.
AFP or licensors
“There is a desire to change the situation, one way or another,” Vyacheslav Dorofeyev testified.
There is a war in Ukraine.
Things get worse every year.
I will not vote for Putin.
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“If Putin gets 3 to 5% here, it will be a success for him”
The opposition had called on Russians to go to polling stations at midday on Sunday to pay tribute to Alexeï Navalny, who died in mid-February in a prison in a remote region of the Russian Arctic.
This final action had been supported by the opponent before his death.
“If Putin gets 3 to 5% here, it will be a success for him,” quipped Gennady Gudkov, met by AFP in Paris.
According to this opponent, surprised by the popular mobilization, many voters crossed out their ballot papers.
“The best of presidents”
Several Russians interviewed by AFP in the French capital also said they would vote for Vladimir Putin, 71, whose victory is in little doubt against three hand-picked candidates of no importance.
“How can you be against Putin?
He saves the world,” said a Russian living in Paris who refused to provide his identity.
“He is the best president,” agreed Svetlana Miasnikova, a 53-year-old teacher, in the same queue.
“Russia against the war!”
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A few dozen people, many of them carrying the blue and white flag of the Russian opposition, then began a march in the French capital, chanting slogans such as “Putin assassin!”
» and “Russia against the war!”
".
“Russians against the war,” read a banner at an anti-Putin rally at the Trocadéro in Paris.
AFP/Bertrand GUAY?
AFP or licensors
Demonstrators met on the Human Rights square at the Trocadéro.