Today, hundreds of Russians wait in order for their turn to vote at the Russian embassy in Lisbon and many of them do not hide their desire to change, but also some disbelief in the electoral process.
EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV
Mainly from midday onwards, the time when an international movement protesting President Putin invited Russians to vote, many Russians have joined the line of voters, which fills part of Calçada de Arroios and also Rua Ponta Delgada , close to the Russian embassy. Voters, many of them accompanied by children and babies, are entering the embassy premises at a slow pace, which is protected with bars and a significant police presence.
Voters are accompanied by a passport and some of them are, at the end of the vote, approached by members of an organization that is carrying out a kind of poll at the polls.
The objective is to demonstrate that, contrary to what the Russian authorities say, these citizens want change and not the continuity of the President, Vladimir Putin.
Mateus, 21 years old, a young Russian student who has been in Portugal for two months, attending Erasmus, is part of the organization and in laborious Portuguese explains that, despite what the Russian authorities indicate, the mobilization in several countries shows that people do not They want more Putin in power.
In previous elections, he adds, the opposition voted little, but now “everyone votes against Putin”, which he hopes to see reflected in the exit poll that the “voteabroad.info” project is carrying out at the embassy.
“With the help of our project we will see true results”, he says.
Actress Anna Eremin does not believe that the results are true, but shows great satisfaction at seeing so many people voting, close to noon, in response to the international protest call against Putin, launched by Alexei Navalny shortly before the opponent’s death in prison.
“I’m going to vote anti-Putin and this is my hope, that one day this Putin dictatorship will end”, he says.
The actress believes that the Russian community is united and that this is “a sign that Navalny’s death has woken up” people.
“We really have to move. Even if the results show nothing, they show that we are in the majority”, he observes, recalling that, “when the war started, people were still afraid to speak, but that fear is ending”.
And he emphasizes: “Putin has been in power for so many years that the people who are going to vote for the first time were already born with him. The fact that they are against him reflects very well what is happening today.”
In Portugal since July 2023, Anastácia considers the strong presence of Russians in line to vote “fantastic”, which, in her opinion, demonstrates the desire for change.
“I think it’s a great moment, because we need to choose and show our choice”, he says, even though he doesn’t believe in the elections
“It doesn’t matter where we put the cross on the bulletin”, he laments.
Regarding the Russian community in Portugal, he classifies it as “strong and with many new people, many children”. And the host country only finds virtues, starting with “the people, the climate, the ocean and the sun”.
The “Midday against Putin” protest was scheduled for today, the last of three voting days in the Russian presidential elections, and invites Russian citizens, in Russia and internationally, to go to their respective polling stations in the middle -day “to express a collective position against the current political situation”.
Vladimir Putin has been in power since 2000 and intends to secure a fifth presidential term, after also serving as prime minister between 2008 and 2012.
SMM/FPA (PL) // FPA/ROC
Lusa/End
