Anti-war Russians protest outside Berlin embassy as parliamentary voting closes
Russians in Berlin protested outside their embassy on the final day of parliamentary voting, holding banners against Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Protesters assembled outside the Russian embassy in Berlin on Sunday, the closing day of Russia's parliamentary elections, to voice opposition to President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Voting in the elections was under way at Russian diplomatic missions abroad, drawing Russians living outside the country to cast ballots. In Berlin, a queue formed at the embassy entrance as demonstrators gathered across the street.
Banners carried messages including "Putin is a killer and war criminal" and "Our vote is against Putin," written in Russian and German. Other posters read "No war!" and "No deals with Putin," alongside a tribute reading "In memoriam of Alexei Navalny."
Russian opposition figures had called on Russians to converge on polling stations at midday on Sunday as a gesture of protest against United Russia, the main Kremlin-aligned party.
Andrei Pivovarov, an opposition activist who spent several years imprisoned in Russia, addressed the crowd. Speaking in Russian, he said the war had continued for five years without anything good to show for it, and predicted that officials would eventually disavow their service to Putin's government. "Friends, Russia will be free!" he said, adding that he believed those gathered would return to Russia.
The balloting, Russia's first wartime parliamentary election, was held over three days beginning Friday, with authorities promoting online voting in an effort to lift turnout among roughly 111 million eligible voters. The election offered virtually no opposition to Putin's policies and was widely expected to reinforce the Kremlin's dominance.
The final day of voting coincided with a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack overnight, with more than 1,000 drones fired at Russia, including hundreds directed toward Moscow.
Ukrainian authorities denounced voting in Russian-held areas as illegal and pressed foreign governments not to recognise the results. The European Union on Friday described the action as a "blatant violation of international law."