‘A cry nobody can hear’

Meduza’s Russian readers on what the ‘Noon Against Putin’ election protests looked like on the ground

At 12:00 on March 17, thousands of Russians throughout the country and abroad lined up outside of polling stations to take part in the “Noon Against Putin” election protest. The initiative, which was endorsed by late opposition leader Alexey Navalny, was designed to let citizens show their disapproval of the Putin regime while protecting their safety by letting them maintain plausible deniability. (Dozens of people were nonetheless detained for showing up to vote at noon on Sunday.) Meduza asked our Russian readers who took part in the protest to tell us how it unfolded on the ground in their cities. We’ve translated some of the most notable responses into English.

Alexey

Moscow

[I was motivated to join the protest] by the public calls from Navalny and other opposition figures. A chance to gather together with good people. That was the only meaningful thing about these elections, whose results were completely fabricated.

I was one of the first people to show up at the polling station, but within just a few minutes, a long line formed behind me. It looked like about 150 people. There were police officers standing there, with two of them checking our bags at the entrance. The poll workers were rushing around, stressed.

My eyes filled up with tears of pride and joy when I say that people had shown up after all. Everyone was looking around, thinking, “Look how many of us there are.”

Anna

Izhevsk

[I took part because I wanted to] support myself and others. This is an important drop in the sea of what it will take to bring the Beautiful Russia of the Future into being.

There were [election] officials everywhere, all of them acting mawkishly polite. At the entrance, they had us go through a metal detector and asked us to empty our pockets and show them our wrists.

On my way to the polling station, I was anxious and nervous. I could feel the disgust from everything happening over these three days building up inside me. While I was voting, I felt like I was shoplifting. Like in Moscow, there were no lines, but there was a decent amount of people — mostly young people.

Vita

Moscow region

[I decided to participate as a way to] show that there are a lot of us, that we’re not afraid, and that we’re going to fight for a peaceful sky and a free Russia. We’ll follow in the footsteps of Alexey Navalny, a hero of Russia.

By 11:50, there were already quite a lot of people [outside of the polling station]. At exactly 12:00, they started going inside. There were people of absolutely all ages: mothers with children, [middle-aged] men, college students, pensioners.

I was wearing a headband with yellow rubber ducks, and a cop immediately started filming me. Then he came up to me and asked for my passport. I said I would show it in the polling station. When he continued filming me and demanding to see my passport, some very sweet ladies and a new friend who I’d met there intervened on my behalf.

The policeman literally followed me almost to the voting booth, and then up multiple floors. He asked me where I [was going] and why, and then he said that the exit wasn’t there. Even when I left the building, he continued to follow me all the way to the gate, filming me the entire time. I made a heart with my hands for his camera — what else can one do?

I met some wonderful people and I felt unity and hope. Love is stronger than fear <3. I’m going to hold on to my duck headband — it’s a must-have accessory.

Ira

Tomsk

I wanted to see some like-minded people and reassure myself that I’m not alone. [But] to my huge disappointment, there were very few people there. And I doubt they even knew about the protest at all. The police and the poll workers were totally chill. It made me very sad. I wanted to cry as I left the building. It hadn’t even occurred to me that things might go this way. But seeing your reporting and photos from other cities and polling stations has made me feel a bit better, and I’m trying not to lose hope.

Sofya

Moscow

[I joined because I wanted to] express my views, at least in this small way. And to see that I’m not alone, that there are many of us.

Everything went very calmly. It was a small polling station — just a couple of buildings. It’s located next to a police station. At 12:00 p.m., the people standing next to the polling place all got in line. We were smiling and giggling like schoolkids. Old people, young people, men, women, everyone. One woman even brought her daughter, to show her what elections look like. There were police and OMON [riot police] officers there, but they didn’t touch us at all — they just checked our bags at the entrance and that was it.

It was fun. This protest really breathed some life into me. I’m so tired of glancing over my should all the time, God forbid I say something wrong. I’m so tired of shaking from anger, fear, and self-loathing whenever there’s a protest rally because I can’t participate out of fear for my life. One day, me and these people I met will meet again at a polling station, but this time it’ll be to vote for all different candidates, without knowing who the winner will be.

Yekaterina

Bryansk

Bryansk is a small city and it’s located near the borders of three countries: Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. All of my close friends and family have taken the position of “I disagree [with Putin], but I’m not going [to the protest].” But I really wanted [to go], because [this kind of act] is like a cry nobody can hear. At the protest at my polling station, I found myself alone. Unless that frail old lady with the cane who arrived at the same time as me also decided to participate. I went there with a great deal of enthusiasm; I really wanted to find support, even if it remained unspoken, with closed mouths. I wanted to see I wasn’t alone. [But in the end,] there wasn’t a single person on the street [with us], and the old lady and I were there alone with our documents in hand.

I didn’t get upset. I know a bunch of people who disagree but who just decided not to come. And I see the news about other cities. I can see and feel from those crowds that I’m not alone. There are many of us. And we want to finally see the sun in our country.