In the middle of the day on Sunday, March 17, the queue to vote at the Russian Embassy in Paris, Boulevard Lanes, suddenly became several hundred meters long. “There were few people till 10:30 am, from 11 am, I saw a big rush”, says Olga Emelinova, 27, stationed at the corner of the embassy to collect exit polls. All elements of the Russian opposition called on voters to come and vote at noon, to unite and express their no-confidence in the day’s presidential vote, thus echoing the “afternoon against Putin” operation in Russia as well.
Under the drizzling rain, the queue stretches from the Square Claude-Debussy, runs along the huge gray cube of the embassy and ends with the Porte de la Muette hook around the Pierre I monument.er Serbia and Alexander Ier of Yugoslavia. Most of the Russians waiting under the umbrellas are under the age of 35, and many came in groups. “I’m voting for the first time in my life… if you can call it a vote”explains Anton, 21, with his older sister and a friend. “I have come because of death (Anti-Russian Alexei) Naval sticks around my neck. I will check the boxes of the two candidates other than Putin, as Navalny’s team recommended to us, so that my vote counts as a cast. » “I don’t careAlexandra intervenes, 25 years old. I will capitalize Navalny and cross out other names. » They say they are moved by images coming from Russian polling stations of ballot boxes being set on fire or smeared with ink by protesters, but they don’t want to express their anger that way. “Who knows what could happen… one day I will need to renew my papers at the embassy”Alexandra continues.
About fifteen CRS vans line the sidewalks of the Porte de la Muette. In front of the Peter I monumenter From Serbia, a gathering swells with an influx of those who have already voted, those who won’t and the French who have come to show their solidarity. “Swo-bo-da, Swo-bo-da”, A man at the top of his voice, whose knowledge of the Russian language is apparently limited to the meaning of the word “freedom”. White-blue-white flags are brandished by demonstrators, in the colors of a country that does not yet exist: democratic Russia.
The “huge” crowd
“Today, the crowd is huge, no doubtassured Olga Kokorina, 45, director of Espace Libertés, a support center for opponents of Vladimir Putin inaugurated in February 2024 in Paris. Six years ago (during previous Russian presidential elections), there was no waiting to vote at the embassy. » This time, Olga did not vote, believing that participation in the demonstration was enough. Olga Prokopyeva, president of the Russia-Liberties Association, shares this view and refuses to participate in what she describes as “The Masquerade of Elections”.
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