Critics of the Russian president staged nonviolent protests at polling stations on Sunday in the election in which he is due to win
Although Vladimir Putin will win Russia’s presidential election again, his warring parties staged a protest against the inevitability of his control of the Kremlin.
Supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny gathered at polling stations in Russia and beyond at noon local time for the so-called “Noon Against Putin” protest. Many of them were destroying their ballots, voting for one of the 3 opposition candidates. or writing on behalf of Navalny.
There are reports that thousands of people have participated in the nonviolent protests.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, took part in a protest outside the Russian embassy in Berlin, Germany, along with others lining up to vote.
Russian forces twice attacked the southern city of Mykolaiv with missiles on the same day.
The Kyiv Independent reported that at least five other people were injured as a result of the strikes, in which missiles hit the city one after another at around 2 p. m. local time.
Regional governor Vitalii Kim said the victims’ injuries were critical.
According to the governor, Russia carried out the attack from the same location as its previous attack on Odesa, on March 15. Twenty-one other people were killed in the attack, the deadliest in Moscow in weeks.
Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Belgorod region killed one man and wounded others, the regional governor said.
Belgorod is one of many regions affected by Ukrainian drone incursions overnight. On Sunday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that some 35 incursions had taken place in the Kursk and Rostov regions, which also border Ukraine.
The death toll was revealed by Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who said on Sunday that a 16-year-old woman had been killed in another shelling in the area.
Reuters can simply independently verify the reports.
Demonstrations against Putin’s re-election are taking place in many Russian embassies around the world.
AFP reports that Moldovan police arrested a man after two Molotov cocktails were allegedly thrown at the Russian embassy in Chisinau, the capital:
Moldovan media, bordering Ukraine, reported that the embassy, where voting for the Russian presidential election was taking place, was attacked with Molotov cocktails. There were no injuries.
“A guy threw two boxes of flammable ingredients over the fence of the Russian embassy in Chisinau,” police said in a statement.
The 54-year-old Moldovan, who also claimed to have Russian citizenship, was “immediately arrested” and taken into custody for questioning, police said.
“He justified his action with clear dissatisfaction with the movements of the Russian authorities,” police added.
Moldova protested this week against Moscow’s decision to open several polling stations in the presidential election of separatist Russia Transnistria.
The country of 2. 6 million people, between Ukraine and Romania, called for the vote to be held only at the Russian embassy in Chisinau.