"Where Africa Comes to Stay Informed."
US Edition
"Where Africa Comes to Stay Informed."
On the closing day of Russia's parliamentary election, Russians scattered across the world queued up to vote on Sunday — an exercise most of them described as a moral obligation rather than something likely to change anything, and a gesture aimed squarely at President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Standing in line in Yerevan, an exile from Moscow who identified herself only as Olga said she held out no hope that her vote would shift anything back home.
“It's about putting on a bit of a show,” she said. “This is really more about symbolism, about bringing something positive, about solidarity.”
This is the first State Duma vote since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, and the Kremlin is expected to hold up the result as proof that the public backs Putin and a war now grinding through its fifth year with no resolution in view.
The competition was thin by design. Candidates opposed to the war were largely kept off the ballot, and the parties that did run have reliably sided with United Russia whenever anything significant came to a vote.
Since the invasion began, hundreds of thousands of Russians — disproportionately young and highly educated — have left the country. They resettled in former Soviet states such as Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan, across Europe, and further afield still.
Several of them, years into life abroad, told Reuters they have not given up on the idea that Russia can change.
“We still have our whole lives ahead of us, and we really want to be in Russia one day and help build a new, democratic country,” said Varvara, 24, originally from Moscow, speaking in Berlin.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Russian embassy in Berlin, one of them raising a sign that read in Russian, “Putin is a murderer and a war criminal.” Others carried messages backing Russians imprisoned for opposing the war.
Plenty of those voting were bleak about what lies ahead for the country even if the fighting stops soon. A few were not — among them a man who gave his name as Valery.
“I want to believe, with every fibre of my being, that we can still make a difference and vote against the ruling authorities,” he told Reuters in Yerevan.
Comments
0