Thousands voted

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Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin.(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

In both the Russian embassy in Vienna and the consulate general in Salzburg, the majority of Russians abroad did NOT vote for incumbent Vladimir Putin on Sunday. The conditionally liberal candidate Vladislav Davankov received 43.5 percent in the federal capital and as much as 52.68 percent in Salzburg. In the 2018 elections, Putin had achieved an absolute majority in both cities.

Unlike Vienna, where voter turnout had hardly changed compared to 2018 despite long queues, five times as many people voted in Salzburg, including many Russians living in Germany. 

According to the Central Election Commission, 1437 voting cards were issued at the Consulate General in Salzburg on Sunday: 52.68 percent of voters voted for the conditionally liberal presidential candidate Davankov, 22.82 percent voted invalid and 21.09 percent for Putin. In the last presidential elections in 2018, only 237 people voted at the Consulate General on the Salzach. The drastic increase is likely to be due in particular to Russians from Germany, who moved to neighboring Austria after the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Munich. 

Thousands of Russians flocked to the polling stations in Salzburg and Vienna on Sunday.(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Klemens Groh, Markus Tschepp)

The official Salzburg result for Davankov coincided almost exactly with the results of an exit poll conducted by "independent activists", who had also carried out surveys outside the Russian polling stations in Vienna and Salzburg on Sunday. However, the "Vote Abroad" initiative in Salzburg had given lower figures for the Putin candidate, with eight percent.

Protests during the election
However, voter turnout at the embassy in Vienna remained constant: 2250 people had voted in 2018, compared to 2278 on Sunday, although a large crowd in Vienna, especially after 12.00 noon - supporters of Alexei Navalny had called for the protest action "At noon against Putin" - had initially suggested a higher turnout: Russians living in Austria could not recall seeing queues several hundred meters long in front of the Russian embassy when going to the polls before this election Sunday.

Observers on Sunday evening associated queuing times of more than five hours in some cases with a significantly slower procedure: In particular, the security checks and the obligatory handing in of cell phones in the entrance area took time. A large number of people are also likely to have queued to spend time with friends, but ultimately did not find their way into the polling station. 

Russians abroad have "turned their backs on their homeland"
In the end, Putin only received 33.98 percent of the vote in Vienna, while Davakov received 43.5 percent. Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Monday rejected criticism from Russian opposition figures - particularly those abroad or in exile - who are calling for the presidential election not to be recognized. "There are many people who have completely turned their backs on their homeland," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow, according to the Reuters news agency. These people "are losing their roots, their connection with their homeland. They are losing their understanding of their homeland and ceasing to feel the pulse of their country."