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Noon Against Putin

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Noon against Putin
(Russian: Полдень против Путина)
Part of Russian opposition protest rallies
Date17 March 2024 at 12:00
Location
Multiple countries worldwide
Caused by
Goals
Methods
Parties

In Russia and Belarus:

Russian opposition
Lead figures

The "Noon Against Putin" (Russian: Полдень против Путина) is a peaceful protest action in which Russian citizens who do not support Vladimir Putin will come en masse to the polling stations on the last day of the 2024 presidential election on 17 March at 12 o'clock day and vote against Putin or spoil the ballot.[1] The call for this action was the last political statement of Alexei Navalny before his death in custody, and Novaya Gazeta called the action "Navalny's political testament".[2]

Background

Initiation

The author of the "Noon against Putin" action was politician Maxim Reznik.

In January 2024, Alexey Navalny called on Russians to take part in this event.[3] Navalny's last political statement was a call to support "Noon against Putin".[2] On 14 January 2024, participants in the talk show "What to do?" on the TV Rain participants proposed this unified strategy for the elections.[4] According to economist Sergei Guriev, in the elections on 17 March there will be no candidates who are better or worse, but only one very bad candidate.[4] Maxim Katz noted that for the first time in a long time, the entire opposition had a common goal – to campaign for a vote against Putin.[4] Ivan Zhdanov shares the same opinion, noting on 8 February that Putin wants to divide people, and this action aims to unite people against Putin.[5]

Initially, the Anti-Corruption Foundation considered the idea to be weak, but when they calculated and realized that with the number of 2058 polling stations in only one city, Moscow, if at least half a million people simultaneously come to the rally, then this will be 250 like-minded people for each of the polling stations and this — a lot of people at each site.[6][7]

The action was also supported by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Dmitry Gudkov, Yulia Galyamina, Mikhail Lobanov, Arseny Vesnin, Sergey Guriev, Anastasia Shevchenko, Vladimir Milov, Leonid Gozman, Abbas Gallyamov, Vladimir Pastukhov, Stanislav Belkovsky, Olga Romanova, Alexander Morozov, Alexey Venediktov, Tikhon Dzyadko, Katerina Kotrikadze, Ilya Shablinsky, Dmitry Oreshkin, Ilya Shepelin, Dmitry Kolezev, Lyubov Sobol, Ekaterina Shulman, Ekaterina Duntsova, Marat Gelman, Mitya Aleshkovsky, Viktor Shenderovich, Evgeny Kiselyov, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Lev Ponomarev and other public figures.[1][8][9]

According to the author of the action:

This action is about the unity of the place and time of our protest against Putin. That is, objective parameters on which there is no need to argue and which the authorities cannot change... This is not an election – this is a "special election operation." Why does Putin need it? To prove the unity of the Fuhrer and the nation: there is Putin – there is Russia. It is important for him to confirm once again this thesis, which many already believe. Our task is to show that everything is exactly the opposite... Therefore, it is important for us to show ourselves and the world that there are many of us. So this noon should be everywhere: in Kaliningrad, Vladivostok, St. Petersburg, in the Nile Valley and on the top of Everest. This will be a Russian afternoon where Russians must demonstrate their attitude towards Putin. And doing it on site is safe and legal.[1][10]

Alexey Navalny described the action as a safe and legal way to express his protest.[8][11] Alexei Navalny also spoke about safety for those participating, since at this time the turnout is already high and there are a lot of voters, "and it is simply impossible to single out those who vote 'against'".[12]

Political scientist Abbas Gallyamov on 1 February 2024, agreeing that this is a performance, but, in his opinion, with a sufficient number of participants, "the Russian security forces and bureaucrats, the West, and Ukraine will see that Putin is not as legitimate as everyone thought".[6] A similar idea was expressed by Dmitry Kolezev.[13]

According to a Radio Liberty study conducted on 5 February 2024, the initiative is actively discussed on social networks.[13] Leonid Volkov notes that it is especially important to support the initiative in large cities.[13] Sergei Boyko reminds that when collecting signatures, the idea of showing the mass scale of the protest has already worked before.[13] Dmitry Gudkov believes that the 2024 elections should be treated as "Putin's special election operation," and although Putin will get more than 80% support, it is important to show the people the lies of Putin's result.[14]

On 28 February, the manifesto of the civil movement "Peace. Progress. Human Rights", was prepared by human rights activist Lev Ponomarev and his colleagues. Among other things, the manifesto calls for making the "Noon against Putin" action truly mass-scale: "Only mass participation gives a chance to influence the situation. So let's ensure that the whole of Russia stands in line at the polling stations, and the whole world sees it." The authors of the text called on the opposition to overcome differences and strengthen common action. "The task of the opposition in these weeks is to be with the Russians, to offer them relatively safe options for action, to maximize their voice, to agitate the doubters," the manifesto says.[2]

On 3 March, Kirill Martynov, in an interview with Idel. Realii noted that he considered the action good and believed that it was necessary to participate in it.[15] He is echoed by the head of the Watch, Evgeny Kochegin, who believes that the main thing is to fulfill Navalny's last will.[16]

Opposition from the authorities

On 2 February, the authorities threatened Yulia Galyamina with criminal charges for organizing the protest.[17]

On 2 March 2024, Roskomnadzor blocked the website of the "Noon against Putin" campaign, vpolden.org, for residents of the Russian Federation, and now it is accessible only through VPN or anonymizers.[18]

Former Legislative Assembly deputy Sergei Gulyaev shared information that Roskomnadzor sent a notice demanding that Gulyaev's video with a statement about the action be removed from the YouTube service.[19]

On 3 March 2024, the authorities of several Russian cities decided to hold Maslenitsa festivities at the same time as the "Noon against Putin" protest.[20] DOXA reminds that this practice of the Russian authorities organizing events in order to distract people from protest activity has happened before, for example in 2019.[21]

Description of the action

The action consists of the fact that Russian citizens who do not support the policies of Vladimir Putin will come en masse to the polling stations on the last day of the presidential elections on 17 March at 12 noon.[1] Those who come to the polling stations are asked to either vote against Putin or spoil the ballot.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Навальный призвал сторонников выйти на акцию «Полдень против Путина» во время выборов. Какой в ней смысл? Это что-то вроде флешмоба с фонариками, Meduza, 6.02.2024
  2. ^ a b c «Полдень против Путина»: политическое завещание Навального. Манифест гражданского движения «Мир. Прогресс. Права человека» им. Сахарова, «Новая газета Европа», 28.02.2024
  3. ^ "Навальный поддержал акцию "Полдень против Путина"". Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b c ""Полдень против Путина". Участники ток-шоу "Что делать?" на Дожде предложили единую стратегию на выборах". Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Чуда не произошло: Надеждину отказали в регистрации. В бюллетене не будет антивоенного кандидата Политик призвал россиян "не опускать руки"". Archived from the original on 9 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Что такое "Полдень против Путина" и чем он грозит президенту". Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Полдень против Путина. План действий 🎙️ Честное слово с Иваном Ждановым". Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Алексей Навальный поддержал акцию "Полдень против Путина"". Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Полдень Против Путина". Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Зачем нужен "Полдень против Путина"?". Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  11. ^ "НОВОСТИ | ПОТОПЛЕН КОРАБЛЬ "ИВАНОВЕЦ" С 40 МОРЯКАМИ | НАВАЛЬНЫЙ ПОДДЕРЖАЛ "ПОЛДЕНЬ ПРОТИВ ПУТИНА"". Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Навальный призвал россиян выразить Путину протест в день выборов, придя проголосовать в полдень". Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d "Источник". Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Первый иноагентсткий. Как россияне, объявленные иностранными агентами, обсуждали в Берлине угрозы безопасности и президентские выборы". Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Подкуп, страх и цифровизация". Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  16. ^ ""Они не запретят чувствовать": на юге России и Северном Кавказе прощаются с Алексеем Навальным". Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  17. ^ "Политик Юлия Галямина решила "замолчать". Это связано с возможным уголовным делом из-за акции "Полдень против Путина"". Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Роскомнадзор заблокировал сайт акции "Полдень против Путина"". Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Акция "Полдень против Путина"" (in Russian). 17 January 2024. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Власти нескольких городов страны объявили о масленичных гуляниях, которые начнутся одновременно с акцией "Полдень против Путина"". Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Власти Екатеринбурга решили устроить масленичные гуляния одновременно с акцией "Полдень против Путина"". Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  22. ^ "Роскомнадзор заблокировал сайт проекта "Полдень против Путина"". Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.