Kremlin foe Navalny urges election day protests in Russia next month by voting at a specific hour

By DASHA LITVINOVA
Associated Press

Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny is urging Russians to show their protest of President Vladimir Putin during next month’s presidential balloting by voting at a specific time on election day. In a social media statement relayed from the Arctic penal colony where he is being held, Navalny argued that by forming long queues at noon on March 17 to vote against Putin, people would make “a powerful demonstration of the country’s mood.” Putin is almost certain to win his fifth term in office because of his tight control over the political system, with most opposition politicians either in jail or in exile abroad and the vast majority of independent media in Russia blocked.