Arrests reported during election protests in Russia Fire destroys one of the oldest film studios in the Arab world

Dozens of people were arrested during protests critical of the Kremlin on the final day of Russia’s much-criticized presidential election, according to civil rights activists. Overall, that’s what mattered Organization Ovd-Info By early Sunday afternoon, about 50 arrests had been made across the country, almost half of them in the city of Kazan. People in Moscow and St. Petersburg were also affected. Many of them wanted to stand in long lines in front of their polling stations at exactly 12:00 local time to show their dissatisfaction with the re-election of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, which was planned by the power apparatus and classified by the opposition as undemocratic.

Opposition members, including the team of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who recently died in a prison camp, had called for the action under the slogan “Lunch against Putin.” According to civil rights activists, arrests also took place outside the protests. An activist in St. Petersburg was arrested by security forces as she left her home. Some people were released from police custody after a while.

The Russian presidential elections, which last until Sunday evening at 7 p.m. Dutch time, are primarily aimed at retaining power for Putin, who will most likely secure his fifth term in office in the midst of the war of aggression against Ukraine. Genuine opposition members have not been approved as candidates, have fled abroad or are in prison. There are also more and more reports of fraud and manipulation. Independent observers therefore describe the vote as a farce and call on the international community not to recognize the result. (sda/dpa)