Jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has called for a protest against incumbent Vladimir Putin during a presidential election next month by having voters turn out en masse at noon on the voting days to form huge lines as a show of opposition.
"That could be a strong demonstration of national sentiment. The real voters versus the fiction of e-voting. Real people standing in line to vote against Putin, versus fake and fraudulent 'yes' votes," Navalny said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on February 1.
Navalny, who last month marked the third anniversary of his incarceration on charges widely believed to be politically motivated, said the idea behind the protest was to ensure the action was "completely legal and safe" during the election, which will be held over three days, ending March 17.
He said in the social media posts that turnout at noon is traditionally high, which would make it "simply impossible" to identify those who vote against Putin.
"There is no way to stop this action. Well, what can they do? Will they close the polling stations at 12 noon? Will they organize an action in support of Putin at 10 AM? Will they register everyone who came at noon and put them on the list of unreliable people?" he asked.
"This will be a nationwide protest against Putin, close to where you live. It is accessible to everyone, everywhere. Millions of people will be able to participate. And tens of millions of people will be able to witness it," he added, noting the original idea came from his longtime friend and former St. Petersburg City Council member Maxim Reznik.
SEE ALSO: Russian Anti-War Candidacy Bid An Unexpected Obstacle In Kremlin's Effort To Smoothly Reinstall PutinPutin was officially registered as a candidate earlier this week for a vote he is expected to easily win with most of his main opponents -- including Navalny -- in jail or outside the country, having fled for security concerns.
Russian elections are tightly controlled by the Kremlin and are neither free nor fair but are viewed by the government as necessary to convey a sense of legitimacy. They are mangled by the exclusion of opposition candidates, voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, and other means of manipulation.
"I have already said that simply participating in the elections and voting against Putin is not a fight against him, but a self-deception," Navalny wrote.
"In fact, that's exactly what Putin wants you to do: come and vote as you wish (the witch Panfilova will fix everything), but don't do anything else. You should consider that you are fighting in this way."
Navalny, who nearly died from a poisoning with Novichok-type nerve agent in 2020 which he blames on Russian security operatives acting at the behest of Putin, was detained on January 17, 2021, at a Moscow airport upon his arrival from Germany, where he was treated for the poisoning.
He was then handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for violating the terms of an earlier parole during his convalescence abroad. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Navalny's poisoning.
The original conviction is widely regarded as a trumped-up, politically motivated case.
In March 2022, Navalny was handed a nine-year prison term on charges of contempt and embezzlement through fraud that he and his supporters have repeatedly rejected as politically motivated.
Later, Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and his network of regional offices were designated "extremist" organizations and banned after his arrest, which led to another probe against him on extremism charges.
In August last year, a court extended Navalny’s prison term to 19 years and sent him to a harsher "special regime" facility from the maximum-security prison where he was held.
Last month, Navalny was transferred to Polar Wolf, which is a "special regime" prison in Russia's Arctic region.