Shortly before his death, Navalny endorsed a protest called “Noon Against Putin,” where supporters would simultaneously show up at polling stations at noon to subtly express their opposition to the Kremlin. The demonstration occurred on the last day of voting in the Russian presidential election, considered by many to be a rubber stamp procedure to extend Russian President
Voters queue at a polling station in St. Petersburg, Russia, at noon local time on Sunday, March 17. The Russian opposition has called on people to head to polling stations at noon on Sunday in protest as voting takes place on the last day of a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. AP can’t confirm that all the voters seen at the polling station at noon were taking part in the opposition protest.
Demonstrators weren’t told who to vote for, just to not vote for Putin. The candidate who consistently comes in second is the Communist Party candidate, which itself is an ally of Putin. There are no Western-style liberal candidates on the ballot.The Moscow Prosecutor’s Office was aware of the plan well beforehand and threatened participants with arrest.
“Please note that neither the public mass events in question nor their locations have been approved by city authorities as required by law,” a statement from the prosecutor’s office, obtained by election watchdog Golos,. “Organizing and participating in these mass events are therefore punishable in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.