Popular mobilization.

Thousands of people lined up in front of the Russian embassy in Paris on Sunday March 17 at noon, the time when the opposition called to honor the memory of the late opponent Alexeï Navalny and denounce a presidential election tailor-made for Vladimir Putin.

In the rain, many wearing raincoats and/or umbrellas, these voters waited patiently in line for more than 600 meters, AFP noted at 12:30 p.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.

“There is a desire to change the situation, one way or another,” Vyacheslav Dorofeyev testified. “There is a war in Ukraine. Things are getting worse every year. I will not vote for Putin.”

Opposition appeal

The opposition had called on Russians to go to polling stations on Sunday at noon to pay tribute to Alexeï Navalny, who died mysteriously in mid-February in a prison in a remote region of the Russian Arctic.

His widow Yulia Navalnaïa, who promised despite her exile to take up the torch from her husband, called on her supporters to go to the polls at the same time, at noon on Sunday (09:00 GMT), and to give their vote to any which candidate other than Vladimir Putin.

Yulia Navalnaïa herself was queuing at the start of the afternoon in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin.

Also read: Yulia Navalnaïa, wife of Alexei Navalny, new target of pro-Russian propaganda

“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.

March against Vladimir Putin

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.

Read alsoPresidential election in Russia: what are the three candidates running against Putin for?

"How can you be against Putin? He saves the world," said a Russian living in Paris who refused to give his identity.

“He is the best president,” agreed Svetlana Miasnikova, a 53-year-old teacher, in the same queue.

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!”

With AFP

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