MOSCOW – Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s app instructing Russians how to vote to unseat President Vladimir Putin’s ruling party disappeared from Apple and Google today as three-day parliamentary polls marked by a historic crackdown on the opposition opened across the country.
Parliamentary and local polls in the world's largest country spread over 11 time zones began at 8am Friday.
The run-up to the parliamentary polls has been marred by an unprecedented crackdown on Kremlin critics and independent media, with Putin’s top foe Alexei Navalny jailed in January and his organisations subsequently outlawed.
This morning, Navalny’s Smart Voting app was unavailable on Google and Apple stores after Russia ramped up pressure on United States tech giants to remove it, accusing them of election interference.
Navalny’s allies denounced the move as an “act of political censorship”.
“They caved in to the Kremlin’s blackmail,” exiled Navalny ally Leonid Volkov said on Telegram. Google and Apple have not commented on the move.
Navalny had appealed to supporters from prison to download the app and urged them to back mostly Communist Party candidates to weaken the ruling party.
With many voters frustrated by falling incomes and not planning to cast their ballots, Putin urged Russians to elect a “strong” Parliament.
“I’m counting on your responsible, balanced, and patriotic civic position,” Putin said in a video address yesterday.
The 68-year-old Russian leader is currently isolating himself after the Kremlin announced this week an outbreak of coronavirus cases among his inner circle. He said yesterday that “dozens” had tested positive. – AFP, September 17, 2021
