'Noon Against Putin' Protests See Thousands Disrupt Russian Election Voting

Photos and videos have emerged on social media showing the extent of the crowds in Russia participating in the "Noon Against Putin" demonstration.

Presidential elections are currently underway in Russia, where incumbent President Vladimir Putin has long been accused of exercising authoritarian control over elections to manipulate them in his favor. In response to this, Russian citizens this year have devised a plan to show opposition to Putin while also attempting to not run afoul of the countries strict laws.

The "Noon Against Putin" movement has called for as many Russian citizens as possible to show up at polling locations en masse at the same time, around noon. A website for the protest also called for voters to "do what you think is right" on their ballots, including backing non-Putin candidates, filling out every option, spoiling the ballot in some way, or declining to vote at all.

Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin via email on Sunday afternoon for comment.

On Sunday, posts began to emerge on X purporting to show the extent of the lines gathering at polling places as part of the protest. Anton Gerashchenko, a former Ukrainian internal affairs official, shared a video from polling places in the cities of Almaty, Astana, and Yerevan with a massive line out the door and down the street. His post also shared some reported statistics from around the country.

"About 100 people gathered at a polling station in Sakhalin," Gerashchenko wrote. "There was a queue in Chita. Those gathered said they had come to vote 'for peace.' Police reinforcements were sent to two polling stations. Residents of Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok also took part in the action. The number of people at polling stations in these cities varied. In Irkutsk and Vladivostok, the authorities organized Maslenitsa celebrations to make it more difficult to count people."

Russian communities living in other countries were also reported to have come out in strong numbers for the movement. Gerashchenko noted in his post that big turnouts were reported in Kazakhstan and Armenia.

"Massive line in Geneva for Noon Against Putin," X user Varia Bortsova wrote in a post. "The look on people's faces as they approach and see the giant crowd that has assembled is priceless."

"Never seen this many Russian people come together in Finland like today at Russian Embassy in Helsinki for protesting Noon Against Putin," journalist Erkka Mikkonen wrote in a post.

Posts from various accounts also purported to show sizable lines of Russian expats forming in places like Thailand, the Netherlands, and Montenegro.

Russian officials warned in the lead up to the election that citizens appearing to take part in the "Noon Against Putin" movement could be arrested and face up to eight years in jail for taking part in a "rally against Putin."