The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has called on Russians to protest on election day against Vladimir Putin by forming long queues outside polling stations, AFP reports.
"We have to go to the polling station on one day and at one time: 17 March at 12:00. What to do after that? You can choose. You can vote for any candidate except Putin. You can make your ballots invalid. You can write 'Navalny' in big letters," Yulia Navalnaya said.
She vowed to continue her husband's work and defy the Kremlin after the prominent opposition figure's death last month in an Arctic prison colony.
In a video posted on YouTube, Navalnaya backed an initiative to try to overload polling stations during this month's nationwide vote, in which Putin is due to secure another six-year term as president.
The widow described the election, to be held March 15-17, as "fake" and said it was obvious Putin would "achieve whatever result he wants."
Navalny said she was heartened by the thousands of people who visited her husband's grave with flowers after his funeral on March 1.
Calling them "the bravest and most honest people in our country," she said this support proves that there is significant opposition to the Kremlin in Russia.
"We are many and we are strong," she said./BGNES
