各国のロシア大使館前で反プーチン運動 大統領選最終日に行列

【ベルリンＡＦＰ＝時事】ロシア大統領選の投票最終日となった１７日、ウラジーミル・プーチン大統領の続投に向け仕組まれた選挙だと抗議する人々による「反プーチンの正午」運動が各国のロシア大使館前で行われた。先月死亡した反体制派指導者アレクセイ・ナワリヌイ氏の妻ユリア・ナワルナヤ氏も、ドイツ・ベルリンで参加した。（写真はロシア大統領選の投票のため、ベルリンのロシア大使館を訪れた反体制派指導者アレクセイ・ナワリヌイ氏の妻ユリア氏＜中央＞）
　ナワリヌイ氏の支持者は、１７日正午に投票所に集まり、プーチン氏への抗議を表明するようロシア人に呼び掛けた。
　ベルリンのほか仏パリ、オランダ・ハーグ、米ワシントン、トルコ・イスタンブールなど各地のロシア大使館前では、同国の野党を象徴する青と白の服を身に着けた有権者らが政権批判のプラカードやウクライナ国旗を掲げ、プロテストソングを歌う姿が見られた。
　ベルリンでは、「ユリア、ユリア、私たちはあなたと共にある」とシュプレヒコールが上がる中、ナワルナヤ氏は投票に臨んだ。投票後、「もちろんナワリヌイと書いた」と語った。
　パリでは、数千人が大使館前に列をつくった。
　エリート養成機関のパリ政治学院で要職に就き、ナワリヌイ氏と親交があったセルゲイ・グリエフ氏は、パリ在住歴が長いが「これほどの行列は見たことがない」と話した。多数のロシア人がプーチン氏に反発しており、投票では不正が行われているのは明らかだと指摘した。
　ただ、すべての有権者がプーチン氏の再選に反対しているわけではない。
　パリ在住のロシア人男性は、「どうしてプーチンに反対できるのか」「彼は世界を救っている」との考えを示した。教師の女性も「史上最高の大統領だ」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/03/18-17:05）

Alexei Navalny's widow and close allies joined long lines of voters outside Russian embassies in foreign capitals on Sunday, as many protested what they called a stage-managed election set to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule.
Navalny, Putin's most prominent critic, died suddenly in an Arctic prison last month, and his supporters had called for Russians to turn up at polling stations at midday Sunday in a Noon Against Putin protest, in what is now seen as the opposition leader's last wish.
The three-day polls are taking place as Moscow's war against Ukraine stretches into its third year, with all prominent Kremlin critics in jail, in exile or dead.
Russians formed long lines outside Moscow's embassies in Paris, Berlin, the Hague and elsewhere. Some voters held anti-Kremlin signs or were dressed in blue and white -- the colour of the Russian opposition -- while others sang protest songs and waved Ukrainian flags.
In Berlin, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, who has vowed to continue his cause, received flowers from supporters and chatted with fellow voters in the long line outside the Russian embassy.
She was also pictured huddling with self-exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Obviously I wrote Navalny's name on the ballot paper, Navalnaya said.
Crowds had earlier chanted: Yulia, Yulia, we're with you, as she entered to cast her ballot.
In Paris, thousands of people queued outside the embassy, some holding anti-Kremlin placards. Many, including opposition figure Gennady Gudkov, said they had not expected such a turnout.
I have lived in Paris for a long time, said Sergei Guriev, provost at Sciences Po, one of France's most prestigious universities who was friends with Navalny. I have never seen such lines.
Guriev spoke at a rally of dozens of protesters who gathered in Paris on Sunday afternoon after casting their ballots.
Pointing to the long lines, he said it was evident that many Russians were against Putin and the vote would be rigged.
Today he's committing his latest crime, Guriev said, adding world leaders should not recognise the results of the vote.
- 'Make Putin's job more difficult' -
Many Russians said they would vote against Putin.
I will use my ballot as a leaflet, said Tatyana Leontyeva, 43, as she waited for her turn to vote outside Russia's Paris embassy.
I think I will write Navalny on it, I will say that Putin is illegitimate, she told AFP.
Hundreds of people also took part in the Noon against Putin protest in front of the Russian embassy in Washington.
Yulia Traub, 38, came to vote against Putin even though she said she knew the outcome. If you cannot do or say anything you must at least lie down and lay in the direction in which you want to move.
In Istanbul queues outside Russia's consulate reached several hundred metres.
We want to make Putin's job more difficult, said Yuri, who like his companion Elena -- wearing Ukraine's national colour yellow -- declined to give his last name.
In Belgrade, activists held up a banner reading Putin is not Russia.
Some people plan to spoil their ballot, to make it invalid by voting for multiple candidates, said Peter Nikitin, an activist.
In Moldova, police detained a 54-year-old man after two Molotov cocktails were reportedly thrown at the Russian embassy.
There were no reports of violence elsewhere.
- 'Saving the world' -
In Tallinn, Anastasia Korobova, a 44-year old Kazakh-born Russian activist, said: So many people don't want war, don't want their relatives to die in a pointless war or to kill people..
In Vilnius, where an estimated 500 people were gathered, some held up posters of Navalny saying Putin killed Navalny.
We understand that this is a symbolic rally, but we also know that many dictatorships fell after similar events, Ivan Zhdanov, who manages Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, told AFP.
Also at the rally Olga, 40, who declined to give her last name, said: Russia is gradually turning into a gulag where you can't talk.
However, not all voters were against Putin's re-election.
How can you be against Putin?, said one Russian man living in Paris who declined to give his name. He is saving the world.
Svetlana Myasnikova, a 53-year-old teacher, said she too would vote for Putin.
He is the best president ever, she said.
Many western governments had already condemned the Russian election as a sham.
On Sunday, Germany's foreign ministry called the vote pseudo-elections.
They were neither free nor fair and the result does not surprise anyone, it said on X, formerly Twitter.
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