Navalny’s widow Yulia writes his name on ballot after risking arrest by entering Russian Embassy in Berlin to cast vote
Watch Navalny's wife join the throng of supporters in Berlin
ALEXEI Navalny’s widow Yulia wrote the name of her “murdered” husband on her ballot while voting in Russia’s presidential election.
Yulia Navalnaya, described as the “first lady” of the Russian opposition, risked arrest to cast her vote in Berlin on Sunday afternoon.
Yulia, 47, braved the Russian embassy in the German capital after protesting against Vladimir Putin in a campaign dubbed “Noon Against Putin”, endorsed by her late husband before his death in jail.
She had been met with fierce cheers at the demonstration and risked arrest to cast her vote.
Speaking to reporters after the vote, she said: “Obviously I wrote Navalny’s name.
“It can’t be that a month before a presidential campaign, a month before an election, Putin’s main opponent, who was already in jail, was killed.”
In a message to Russian citizens, she told her supporters: “Just be brave, one day soon we will win.”
When asked if she had a message for Putin, she said: “Please stop asking for messages from me or from somebody for Mr Putin.
“There could be no negotiations and nothing with Mr Putin, because he’s a killer, he’s a gangster.”
The tyrant has inevitably secured another term as Russian leader after tearing up a constitution limiting his stay at the Kremlin.
Putin, 71, will now be in power until at least 2030 after masterminding a sham election to give himself his biggest-ever landslide victory.
Early official results of the vote reveal Putin bagged 87.97 per cent of the vote.
Before his death Navalny, 47, encouraged Russians to show up at polling stations around the world at 12pm today and spoil their ballots, or vote for another candidate, to draw attention to widespread discontent.
His beloved wife took to the streets of Berlin among throngs of supporters to protest Mad Vlad’s grasp on power.
Some chanted her name, many cheered, and she paused to take pictures with people in the crowds.
Standing next to her late husband’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, Yulia looked defiant as she approached the polling station.
Yulia queued and spoke to people all day, at one point tearing up, before finally reaching the security checkpoint of the embassy.
After bravely risking arrest and casting her vote, she told : “Be brave one day very soon we will win.”
She called Putin a “killer” and a “gangster” who forced Russia into war.
After someone set off a petrol bomb at one polling station, and others used dye to spoil cast votes, the Kremlin warned that any such gathering would be criminal and people would face consequences.
Despite this, Navalny’s team said it was a success in Russia, after thousands of people crowded outside polling stations across the country in a show of defiance.
And near Russian embassies across the world, where Putin’s iron fist is weaker, people were able to rise up even more defiantly when going to vote.
They turned out in huge numbers and some brandished banners reading messages like, “He is not a president & this is not an election”.
A blood-red sign in Georgia read: “Enough Putin. Lies, War, Repressions.”
Kira posted footage online that showed incredibly long queues outside the Russian embassy in Germany as people gathered.
Navalny died in a brutal Polar Wolf jail last month as international figures and his wife publicly blamed Putin.
In London, where more than 200 Russians were expected to protest today, people are gathering.
One 19-year-old woman said she wouldn’t go back to her home country until it is “free” from Putin.
Ivan Zhdanov, the head of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said the marches displayed “another Russia” where people stand up against the tyrant.
And according to Reuters, thousands gathered to partake in the symbolic protest.
However some reports suggest those showing up at midday may have been to afraid to protest more explicitly, or may be fully in support of Vlad’s false exercise in democracy.
Some told Sky News that 12pm was as good a time as any, possibly fearing arrest like those who protested over the weekend.
Putin is almost certain to “win” the election this evening and secure another six years after almost 25 in power.
The despot has been infuriated by signs of dissent over the past two days, and around 50 were arrested across the country today.
It’s the first time Russia has had an election spreading over three days, and Putin has even shamelessly brought it to four Ukrainian regions: Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk.
The former KGB spy wants to show that he has the overwhelming support of Russians with the bogus vote.
It will help him justify his cruel actions in Ukraine, and concerning domestic policy as he continues to crush all dissent with an iron fist.
Putin boasted of Russian battlefield successes in the run-up to the vote, but Ukraine’s barrage of drone attacks across Russia this week suggest otherwise.
Voting is also taking place in Crimea, which Moscow took from Ukraine in 2014.
Kyiv regards the election taking place in parts of its territory controlled by Russia as illegal and void.
