In Russia, opponents came to vote without illusion but in search of comfort

At midday on Sunday, queues formed in front of some Russian polling stations. At the call of the opposition, voters all came to the meeting. the same time, less out of hope of influencing the outcome of the presidential election than out of a need to feel that they are "not alone".

At the polling station of the 2025 school in Moscow, Denis, 21, believes that this “symbolic gesture” is “the only way to express (his) position in these circumstances”.< /p>

“Everyone knows who will win this election”, notes this advertising sector employee, the re-election of President Vladimir Putin being inevitable due to the lack of real opposition candidates.

It is here that the late opponent Alexeï Navalny had his best score in the municipal election in which he ran in 2013.

Unable to be represented in the presidential election, his supporters, first and foremost his wife Yulia Navalnaïa, had arranged this meeting.

Ballots among flowers at the grave of the late Russian opponent Alexei Navalny at the Borisovo cemetery in Moscow, March 17, 2024 © AFP – NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

For many, it is a question of daring a small gesture of rebellion without risking too much, in a country where no dissent is tolerated and where repression has been further strengthened since the start of the offensive in Ukraine, in February 2022.

Artem Minassian, a 19-year-old student, says he is present “to show that there are many of us, that we exist, that we are not a marginal minority “.

Léonid Pakhine, an 18-year-old student, says he is not afraid because “it is not punishable by law”. A specialized NGO nevertheless recorded several dozen arrests for various protest actions.

Russian voters came to vote in Moscow on March 17, 2024 © AFP – NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

In the queue, many people have also come to seek some comfort.

“We try to find ways to express our attitude towards what is happening in Russia, because a large number of people today are very depressed and need to get together with those who think the same”, explains Olga Mironenko, an employee of the technology sector 33 years old.

– “Express an opinion” –

In another district of the capital, Marino, in front of the office in which Alexeï Navalny was voting, the same words recur.

A woman votes in the Russian presidential election, March 17, 2024 in Moscow © AFP – STRINGER

“This is our only opportunity to express an opinion,” says Elena, a 38-year-old engineer.

Olga, 52, is delighted to have been able to speak with people who think “the same thing as me”.

“I'm not alone”, reassures herself she, before leaving with her son to pay their respects at the grave of the opponent who died in prison in February and was buried in the neighborhood.

In the cemetery Borissov, around a hundred people are gathered around his grave, barely visible as there are so many bouquets of flowers.

Fake ballots on to which the name of Alexeï Navalny was added. “The candidate we wanted”, we can read on one of the messages.

Russian voters coming to vote in Moscow, March 17, 2024 © AFP – NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

Regina, 33, easily admits to not being one of those “superheroes who wants to go to prison”, as did the former number one of the opposition and many others. other figures of the movement.

But she wants to fight against “the feeling that has been methodically created among people, to make us feel that we are the minority”.

Looking at the crowd, “I see we're not alone,” Regina says.

For Evguénia, 18 years old, born after Vladimir Putin came to power, hope becomes “more tangible”.

Elena, 66 years old, feels to her “lighter”. In Russia, it has become rare for her to be able to speak frankly, without controlling what she says. Many of his relatives no longer live in Russia, a country which has experienced a wave of massive emigration since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

A woman passes through the security gates before being able to vote on the last day of the Russian presidential election, March 17, 2024 in Moscow © AFP – NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

In Marino, many talk about their admiration for Alexeï Navalny, the symbol of a freedom that they envy. Margarita, 27, judges that the “hope” he embodied “died with him”.

With tears in her eyes, she says she now feels “constantly in danger”. “But being in this mass of people, you feel so supported that you are no longer afraid of anything.”

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