Supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in prison above the Arctic Circle, have been called to protest at polling stations in Russia on Sunday, the last day of voting in the presidential election. Independent Russian media reports that long queues have formed at Russian diplomatic missions around the world. Several people were also detained in Russia who came to the polling stations as a sign of protest at 12 o’clock.

People line up at a polling station during the Russian presidential election in Moscow. The Russian opposition called on the population to come to the polling stations on March 17, 2024 at noonPhoto: Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP / Profimedia

Despite the prosecutor’s warning, the Russian opposition maintained its call for “Noon without Putin”, which consists of going to the doors of polling stations at 12:00 local time on Sunday to demonstrate their rejection of the Kremlin master, whose actions before his death was supported by opposition leader Oleksiy Navalny, and now by his widow Yulia.

Voter turnout in Russia’s presidential election reached 67.54 percent on Sunday, surpassing the 2018 level just hours before polls closed, the TASS news agency reported, citing Reuters.

Voter turnout is higher than in 2018

Voter turnout in 2018 was 67.5%.

The highest turnout in the presidential elections in Russia was recorded in June 1991, when the turnout reached 74.7%.

More than 50 Russians were detained on the last day of the elections

At least 50 people in 14 cities were detained during voting in the Russian presidential election, according to the human rights group OVD-Info, Meduza notes.

According to human rights defenders, the most detainees were registered in Kazan (at least 23 people) and Moscow (at least 10 people).

Oleksandr Shirshov, a Russian from Kazan, told OVD-Info that he was detained for going to the polling station at noon. About 20 other people were in the car with him. As reported by 7×7, the detainees in Kazan were soon released.

People were also detained in St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, Petrozavodsk, Ufa, Balakovo, Volgograd, Barnaul, Kostroma, Cherepovets, Ryazan, Kirov and Irkutsk.

Long queues at polling stations

As reported by international news agencies, the number of Russians in the queues for elections in Moscow increased sharply at noon.

Novaya gazeta Evropa also published a photo from the polling station.

Russian citizens came en masse to the polling stations at 12:00 in major cities abroad, The Moscow Times notes.

One of the largest queues formed near the embassy in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. About two thousand people came to the polling station, reports The Insider.

Russians began to gather near the embassy in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, an hour before the “South without Putin” campaign. According to the estimates of the Dozhdya correspondent, the queue at the entrance reached 600 meters.

Many citizens came from Georgia, as voting in the Russian presidential election was not organized in that country.

A similar situation occurred in the two largest cities of Kazakhstan: Astana and Almaty.

About 400 Russians came to vote in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.

By lunchtime, 400 people gathered near the Russian consulate in Sydney, Australia, reports Sota.

Several hundred people gathered near the Russian consulate in Phuket, Thailand. “Noon against Putin” at the embassy in Bangkok takes place at 35 degrees. Participants of polling stations say that in recent days, 2-3 people came to vote every hour and they were not ready for such a number of people.

At noon, queues also formed near the Russian embassies in Dubai, Istanbul, Auckland and Wellington (New Zealand) and Goa (India).