Three Russian votes against Putin
When the widow of Russian opposition figure Navalny, who died in custody, cast her vote in the Russian presidential election at the Russian embassy in Berlin, she was asked who she had voted for. Yulia Borisovna Navalnaya said: “Of course I wrote Navalny.”
In addition to Vladimir Putin’s name, there were only three unpromising candidates on the ballot paper. The result of this Russian election was known long before the election. This election was not an election. Putin secured his power.
Navalny’s widow was just one of millions of Russian votes against Putin that were not counted. This also includes the votes of two other prominent Russians: Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile in London, and Russian ex-diplomat Boris Anatoljewitsch Bondarew.
Khodorkovsky also cast his vote at the Russian embassy in Berlin. He said: “We can look each other in the eye here, see like-minded people and see that those who are against Putin are numerous. We have the majority.”
The third prominent voice against Putin in this mock election was Boris Bondarev, a Russian diplomat until 2022 and then in exile. He is the author of the book „Im Ministerium der Lüge – Ein russischer Diplomat über Moskaus Machtspiele, seinen Bruch mit dem Putin-Regime und die Zukunft Russlands“. He worked for the Russian Foreign Ministry for 20 years. On May 23, 2022, he announced his resignation “in protest against the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine”. This war was “not only a crime against the people of Ukraine, but also a crime against Russian citizens”.
The three Russian celebrities mentioned were unable to vote in Russia. In the run-up to the elections, the Moscow public prosecutor’s office had threatened all members of the opposition with criminal prosecution. Thousands of Russian opposition members were only able to take part in the elections abroad.
Yulia Navalnaya, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Bondarev, together with millions of Russian citizens, continue to dream of a free, peaceful, democratic Russia of tomorrow that respects human rights. Of a democratic Russia in a “common European home”, as Mikhail Gorbachev had also dreamed of. This common Europe would be a blessing for all Europeans.
Source
Franz Alt 2024 / Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
