‘Noon against Putin’, Molotov cocktails and dye in ballot boxes – how Russians protested the election
Across three days of voting there have been scattered incidents of Russians defying authorities in acts of protest against Vladimir Putin.
The president is all but assured to win another six-year term in office, facing a lack of any credible opposition and amid reports of voting irregularities.
Despite the seemingly preordained outcome, some Russians engaged in acts of defiance to express their opposition.
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People queue to vote around noon in Moscow. Pic: Reuters
‘Noon against Putin’
Associates of Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who was found dead last month, had urged voters to turn to vote at the same time, midday on Sunday, as a symbolic protest.
It was a strategy endorsed by Mr Navalny himself shortly before his death.
It was seen as a safer way of demonstrating in a country where freedom of speech has been repeatedly constrained, but the Kremlin previously warned of legal consequences for anyone taking part.
Queues of people formed on polling stations in Moscow, and Mr Navalny’s team released pictures and videos of people crowding near polling stations in cities across Russia around noon.
However, it is not clear how many of those had heeded the call and were there for the “noon against Putin” demonstrations.
At least 74 people were arrested on Sunday across Russia, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors crackdowns on dissent.
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Cheers for Yulia Navalnaya at anti-Putin protest
Protests were held outside Russia, where citizens were voting at embassies.
Among them was Mr Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who has become the face of the opposition after her husband’s sudden death.
In Berlin, where she joined the queue, she was welcomed with cheers and chants of “Yulia, Yulia” by the crowd.
Meanwhile, outside the Russian embassy in London, several people lined up to cast their ballots.
Aleksandra Kallenberg, 19, told Sky News she queued for an hour to vote in her first election after arriving in the UK in October.
“I spoiled my ballot. At least the government will know they don’t have our support. While Putin is leader I will not go back to Russia but I hope to go back when Russia is free,” she said.
In Paris, rain did not stop thousands of people from gathering outside the embassy, while a large queue was reported outside the consulate in Istanbul and a protest was reported in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Scattered protests have taken place across Russia. Pics: Reuters/Telegram
Pouring dye into boxes – and Molotov cocktails
There have been reports of Russians pouring dye into voting boxes and lighting Molotov cocktails in scattered acts of protest against the election.
Russia’s electoral commission said attempts to spoil ballot papers were reported at 29 polling stations, including 20 where people tried to pour liquids into ballot boxes.
Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said there had also been arson attempts at eight polling stations and the attempted use of a smoke pellet at another.
Russian media say two women were arrested after pouring green dye into ballot boxes on the outskirts of Moscow.
Such an act of protest could land them up to five years in prison, authorities said.
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“These are the methods used by our traitors who fled the country, who are used both in the tail and in the mane by those who fight Russia,” Ms Pamfilova said on Friday.
She described the protesters as “scum”.
Elsewhere, in a remote Urals region and in the city of St Petersburg, protesters tried to destroy ballot boxes using Molotov cocktails, state media reported.
‘Noon against Putin’
“Noon against Putin” was Alexei Navalny’s last political request of the Russian people: Go out at noon on the last day of voting to show that you’re against Putin.
Vote for anyone else, spoil the ballot paper, do what you will, but the point being to queue to vote at that specific time so it is known that there are still people in Russia who don’t agree with Vladimir Putin and with his hollowed out sham of a democracy.
People have come out at polling stations in the big cities as noon rolled across Russia’s vast expanse.
Not in huge numbers but they have come – in cities like Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Novosibirsk, St Petersburg and of course Moscow.
It is hard to estimate numbers, for queues of people at individual polling stations but there is enough social media video filtering through to show that hundreds possibly thousands had turned up for noon. In Moscow certainly, where foreign broadcasters and the main news agencies are still operating, there were notable queues.
Some our team spoke to in Moscow were hesitant even to admit they were heeding Mr Navalny’s call by turning up at this time; after all, noon is as good a time as any to cast your vote. But it is as good a way of protesting as there is, when protest is banned and the authorities warning on Friday already that any kind of rally at noon would be considered a criminal act.
This was never going to be a revolutionary moment. That is almost inconceivable in wartime Russia now, although Russia’s extraordinary history does have precedent.
But “noon against Putin” was another moment to show people that they are not alone, to flex the opposition muscle – just as people did when they queued to give their signatures to the anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin, or to lay flowers at Mr Navalny’s grave.
It is better to do something than nothing at all, even if all it does is help you sleep better at night.
As per the old maxim which Mr Navalny himself would often quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Iran’s response to Israeli attacks on its nuclear facilities is “self-defence” and a “matter of principle”, the Iranian ambassador to the UK has told Sky News.
Speaking exclusively to The World With Yalda Hakim, Seyed Ali Mousavi said the “barbaric Israeli regime” is “violating international law” – describing Israel’s actions in recent days as “an act of aggression against the Iranian people”.
The conflict between Israel and Iran – once played out in a series of proxy wars – has escalated in the past three days.
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Sky’s Yalda Hakim spoke to Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Seyed Ali Mousavi
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Israel-Iran: How the conflict escalated
On Friday morning, explosions hit Tehran as Israel carried out a major attack on its top army leaders, nuclear sites, and nuclear scientists.
Iran threatened “severe punishment” and quickly retaliated with a wave of missiles.
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Missile aftermath in Israel
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Israeli missile hits warehouse in Iranian city
When questioned about whether Iran could continue fighting Israel, the Iranian ambassador told Yalda Hakim that “it is a matter of principle”.
He said: “This is about self-defence, there is no doubt about it.
“We are a responsible member state of the UN and we do all activities according to our international obligations.
“Any activities are only in the framework of self-defence.”
Damage from an Iranian missile attack to a building in Bat Yam, Israel. Pic: Reuters
Explosions over Jerusalem on Sunday
He added that his country would “do our best to preserve our territorial integrity”, and that “with the help of God”, Iran will “materialise endeavours concretely against our enemy – the Israeli regime”.
Mr Mousavi also told Hakim that Iran’s nuclear activities are “monitored”, and that recent comments by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were “politically motivated”.
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Missiles have also been seen over Tel Aviv
The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors found Iran was not complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years.
Iran said it has “always adhered” to the safeguarding obligations laid down by the watchdog.
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Iranian ambassador reacts to strikes – full interview
Announcing Operation Rising Lion on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran had recently taken steps to weaponise enriched uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons.
But Mr Mousavi stressed that Iran’s “peaceful activities” at its “nuclear fields” were only for the “generation of electricity, and other peaceful” things.
Iran was due to continue its round of negotiations with the US in Muscat – however, this was cancelled, given recent tensions.
The government is warning people not to travel to Israel under any circumstances, as the country’s missile exchange with Iran shows no sign of abating.
On Friday, the Foreign Office warned against “all but essential travel” to most of Israel.
The areas around Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights were already classed as red zones, with warnings to avoid travel to these areas.
But the government has now updated the warning for the remainder of the country to red.
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This puts Israel on the same level as Iran, and the change of advice is also likely to impact travel insurance.
However, with Israel’s airspace closed, it is unlikely many people will be attempting the journey, and Israel’s national airline El Al has announced it is cancelling flights to and from many European cities, as well as Tokyo and Moscow, until 23 June.
The change in travel advice comes after a second night of ballistic missile barrages from Iran following Israel’s attack in the early hours of Friday morning.
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An eight-storey residential building in Tel Aviv was hit by a missile last night.
On Sunday morning, Israel’s health ministry said 12 people had been killed over the past day, taking the total since Friday to 15. It also said 385 people had arrived at hospital with injuries overnight.
Iran has not provided a total number of deaths or overall casualties, but has claimed dozens have been killed.
Iran’s health minister has said most of those injured and killed in Israeli strikes were civilians. According to comments carried by news agency IRNA, he said the majority were women and children.
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The chancellor said UK forces could “potentially” be used to help defend Israel.
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The UK government is sending military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East.
While the prime minister would not confirm to reporters that UK forces could be used to defend Israel from future Iranian attacks, the chancellor told Sky News earlier that the government is “not ruling anything out”.
Speaking to Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Rachel Reeves said sending military assets to the Middle East “does not mean that we are at war”, and emphasised that “we have not been involved in these strikes or this conflict”.
“But we do have important assets in the region,” she continued. “And it is right that we send jets to protect them. And that’s what we’ve done. It’s a precautionary move, and at the same time, we are urging de-escalation.”
Pushed on the question of what the UK would do if Israel asked for support with its operations, the chancellor replied: “I’m not going to rule anything out at this stage. It’s a fast-moving situation, a very volatile situation. But we don’t want to see escalation.”
A helicopter carrying Hindu pilgrims has crashed in India, killing seven people on board.
The accident happened within minutes of the helicopter taking off, officials said, on what should have been a 10-minute flight.
The helicopter was flying to Guptkashi, a prominent Hindu pilgrimage site in the Himalayas, from Kedarnath temple town in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.
It comes three days after an Air India flight crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in northwestern India, killing at least 270 people.
The helicopter, which was operated by private helicopter service Aryan Aviation, went down in a forested area several miles from the Kedarnath pilgrimage route at around 5.30am local time.
Officials said the crash was believed to have been caused by poor weather conditions.
Authorities say they have launched a search and rescue operation and are expected to review operational protocols for flights in the region.
The dead include the pilot and pilgrims from the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh and western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, according to officials. The bodies were badly burned in a fire that followed the crash, they said.
Smoke and debris at the site. Pic: Reuters
Tens of thousands of pilgrims visit Kedarnath, which is home to one of the four most sacred Hindu temple shrines, each summer. Many use helicopter services due to the difficult mountainous terrain.
Helicopter mishaps are not uncommon in the region, where sudden weather changes and high-altitude flying conditions can pose risks.
Earlier this month, a helicopter operating in the Kedarnath Valley made an emergency landing shortly after taking off on a highway due to a technical fault. The pilot was injured but all five passengers on board were unharmed.
In May, a helicopter crashed in Uttarkashi district, killing six people, including the pilot. One person survived.
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