The Independent view

Russian voters are standing up to Vladimir Putin – it’s time the rest of the world did, too

Editorial: The more support Western allies of Kyiv provide, the more holes are punched in Putin’s false vision of the world

Monday 18 March 2024 11:09 GMT
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Yulia Navalnaya was present at a rally in Berlin on Sunday, her appearance there was a reminder of just how brave acts of defiance are
Yulia Navalnaya was present at a rally in Berlin on Sunday, her appearance there was a reminder of just how brave acts of defiance are (AFP/Getty)

In today’s Russia, any form of dissent against Vladimir Putin is a brave act. Given the president’s iron grip on the country – a grip that has only tightened across his more than two decades in power – the choice to protest is taken with the knowledge that a lengthy jail term is likely.

The crackdown from the Kremlin has intensified since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine a little more than two years ago. Nearly a thousand other critics and anti-war dissidents have been imprisoned across Russia, while Putin’s fiercest critic, Alexei Navalny, was announced dead a month before the vote, by officials in the brutal Arctic prison in which he was being held on charges that countries around the world lined up to decry as trumped up to silence him. Mr Navalny’s widow, Yulia, made clear that her husband had been killed by Putin, and Western leaders again lined up to declare the Russian leader responsible.

Just before his death, Mr Navalny put out a call for people to vote en masse at midday on Sunday across Russia, a symbolic gesture to show Russians – and Putin – that however much he tried to clamp down on dissent, he cannot stamp it out, and one providing a clear picture that those who seek change are not alone.

Leonid Volkov, a Navalny aide who was attacked by an unknown assailant with a hammer in Lithuania last week – blaming the assault on the Kremlin – said “several thousand” queues had formed at midday at polling stations across the country. There were other acts of protest too: ink being poured in ballot boxes, or more extreme examples of polling booths being set alight. Dozens were arrested across the country – that we are aware of, though there could be more – highlighting the depth of feeling against a sham election controlled by the Kremlin that will extend Putin’s rule by another six years to 2030.

It was not just Russia. Thousands gathered in long lines to vote at the Russian embassy in London, while there were demonstrations in cities across Europe. Yulia Navalnaya was present at one in Berlin, her presence there was a reminder of just how brave acts of defiance are. If Yulia returns to Russia she will face arrest and charges, like her husband did when deciding to fly home in 2021 after live-saving treatment in Germany for poisoning by the nerve agent Novichok. That was the last time Yulia saw Alexei in person.

Western leaders should take such protests against Putin – inside Russia and beyond – to heart and refuse to recognise the election and thus the legitimacy of Putin’s rule. Ruslan Shaveddinov, of Mr Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said of the queues of Russians voting at midday: “We showed ourselves, all of Russia and the whole world, that Putin is not Russia, that Putin has seized power in Russia.” Leaders around the globe need to show that they have heard that message.

With the result in no doubt, Putin and the Kremlin will paint this election as a show of support for the war in Ukraine – and that is where Western nations also need to stand tall, by giving Kyiv the weapons, ammunition and funds required for its forces to defend against Russia’s troops. We have a moral duty to do so, as Ukraine is essentially fighting for the rest of Europe, but it is also a strong way to puncture the facade that Putin seeks to maintain. The Kremlin may control the narrative in Russia but it cannot do so in Ukraine, as much as it tries. The Kremlin cannot hide warships being sunk, or the many, many casualties on the front line. The more support Western allies of Kyiv provide, the more holes are punched in Putin’s false vision of the world.

It is clear Putin will not stop and cares little for consequences. It has been revealed this weekend that the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, had to abort a visit to Ukraine’s Odesa earlier this month after intelligence suggested Russia had become aware of his plans. Mr Shapps had been due to travel the day after a Russian rocket came close to hitting a convoy containing Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Odesa. Mr Navalny’s fate is the clearest indication of just how callous Putin and the Kremlin can be.

So we need to applaud those who braved taking a stand against Putin’s election – and leaders across the world need to follow their example.

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