THE Vladimir Putin collected 87.97% of the votes in the electoral process which was held in Russia with the aim of renewing his presidential term, according to the first official results. Nor nine out of 10 voterscommented users on social networks, welcoming the exit polls.

“We choose you”

Dozens of Russians flocked to his grave earlier on Sunday Alexei Navalny in Moscow today Sunday in order to vote symbolically in favor of the opposition politician on the final day of the Russian presidential election, according to television images.

Navalny, the fiercest domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, he died last month in an Arctic prison. His aides accuse Putin of murdering him, which the Kremlin denies. Sergei Naryskin, the head of Russia’s foreign spy agency SVR, said Navalny died of natural causes.

Navalny was buried at Borisovskoye Cemetery in southern Moscow on March 1, two weeks before the start of presidential elections widely expected to hand Putin another six years in power.

Today, video images posted on social media by Novaya Gazeta Europe and other media outlets, show dozens of Navalny’s supporters at his grave on which they placed various tributes.

“We choose you”, reported a message. Official ballots that had been altered to include Navalny’s name in the list of candidates with a ‘tick’ next to it were also evident.

People were also seen leaving flowers at Navalny’s grave, on which a pile of flowers already stood.

Alexei Navalny stands posthumously against the Russian president… Thousands of people turned out at polling stations across Russia on Sunday to take part in what the anti-Kremlin opposition said was a peaceful, symbolic political protest against the re-election of President Vladimir Putin.

At the same time, in an action called “Noon Against Putin”, Russians opposed to the veteran Kremlin leader went to their local polling stations at midday either to cast invalid ballots in protest or to vote for one of three other candidates against Putin, who is widely expected to win by a landslide .

Yulia Navalnaya she also wrote the surname of her husband, Alexei Navalny, on her ballot after calling on Russian opposition supporters to do the same in protest against Vladimir Putin.

“Of course, I wrote the name ‘Navalni’ because it is not possible (…) a month before the elections to kill the main, and already imprisoned, opponent of Putin,” Yulia Navalnaya told reporters outside the Russian embassy in Berlin.