According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, more than 372 thousand people voted abroad, as stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on Channel One. “The numbers are unprecedented,” she said (quote from TASS), noting that at some polling stations there was “huge excitement, which was also stimulated by the fact that in unfriendly countries, a number of consulates were closed.” As an example, Zakharova cited Germany, “where people stood literally until night.”

Her words are partially confirmed by reports that in Berlin, they promised to extend the polling station’s working hours by an hour, but in the end, the embassy closed earlier. Because of this, more than 500 people remained in line, unable to cast their votes. A similar situation occurred in Belgrade, where hundreds of people remained in the street, standing in line for several hours and still not being able to participate in the elections. They requested an extension of the voting time and chanted “Extend!” and “Russia without Putin.” A consulate employee in Riga informed people on the street that the station would close at 21:10, although there had been information about the consulate’s continued operation “until the last voter.” As a result, dozens of people remained on the street, many of whom had been waiting for several hours.

However, in some countries, voting in the presidential elections was extended due to the large number of voters. For example, the polling station in Paris was open until 10:00 PM, the Russian consulate in Almaty also closed its doors only at 9:00 PM, and in Yerevan, the station continued to operate until 11:00 PM. These measures allowed many people to express their views on the elections, despite the long wait: for example, those who queued at the polling booths at 1:00 PM in Yerevan had to wait 9 hours, and in The Hague (Netherlands), the line of voters stretched for about a kilometer and moved extremely slowly. Reports of long queues also came from Bern (Switzerland), Tallinn (Estonia), Vienna (Austria), Dubai (UAE), Phuket (Thailand), Sofia (Bulgaria), Haifa (Israel), and other cities.

On March 17, the third day of the presidential elections in the Russian Federation, queues outside Russian embassies in the regions of Russia and in many foreign cities only grew longer. On this day, opposition representatives, including allies of the late Alexei Navalny, called for participation in the “Noon Against Putin” action: to come to the polling stations at 12:00 PM local time and vote for any candidate other than Putin, or spoil the ballot. Yulia Navalnaya also participated in the action, writing her husband’s name on the ballot.

Despite the fact that, according to the final results announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC), Vladimir Putin won the elections, receiving a record 87.3% with a turnout of 77.4%(breaking Lukashenko’s record and approaching the figures of elections of figures such as Ilham Aliyev, Islam Karimov, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov), the data from independent foreign observers and official Kremlin sources differ. Thus, according to the “Vote Abroad” movement, a group of activists conducting observation and exit polls in 48 countries around the world, Vladimir Putin suffered defeat on almost all foreign stations, except for Uzbekistan (Samarkand, Tashkent), Moldova, Costa Rica, Cyprus (Nicosia-2), Canada (Montreal), Italy (Rome, Genoa), Greece, and Germany (Bonn). According to “Vote Abroad” surveys, 15% of all voters voted for Putin, while Vladislav Davankov received 46%. Moreover, “Vote Abroad” data show significant discrepancies between survey results and CEC indicators, which suggests falsifications.

In London, a queue of thousands of people began at Kensington Gardens and stretched for more than half a mile (about a kilometre). Some voters carried protest signs and banners in support of Ukraine.

At polling station No. 8061 at the Russian Embassy, nearly 3,000 voters turned out. The voting was not conducted at the Russian consulate in Edinburgh due to safety concerns. In Ireland, 800 people participated in the elections at station No. 8112.

Out of 1,726 respondents surveyed by “Vote Abroad,” 6% voted for Vladimir Putin, 57% for Vladislav Davankov, and 2% for Nikolai Kharitonov. 24% of the ballots were invalid, 11% of voters did not want to disclose their vote, and about 1000 people did not manage to reach the polling station because, as reported by the embassy representative, “at 8:00 PM (11:00 PM Moscow time), the British cut off the queue, closing the gates [to the embassy street].”

Representatives of the Russian opposition called on the European Union to officially refuse to recognise the election results. This was also discussed by some politicians in Europe. The EU High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell released a statement expressing regret at the absence of OSCE observers at the Russian presidential elections and criticising the voting, which “took place in a highly restricted environment.” He also noted the systematic intensification of repression in Russia, particularly the death of opposition figure Alexei Navalny in prison. However, his statement does not imply that the EU does not recognise the election results in Russia, such a reservation was made only regarding voting in “temporarily occupied“ Ukrainian regions. Although individual EU countries, such as Germany, Poland, and Lithuania, have already issued statements of non-recognition of the fairness and legitimacy of the Russian elections.