Widow of 'murdered' Alexei Navalny tells Russians to stage anti-Putin flash mob protests to overload polling stations at noon on election day

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, has called today for Russians to stage an election day protest against President Vladimir Putin by forming long queues outside voting stations.

Navalnaya has pledged to continue her husband's work and opposition to the Kremlin following his death last month in an Arctic prison colony.

In a video on YouTube, Navalnaya backed an initiative to try to overload polling stations in this month's nationwide poll, in which Putin is set to secure another six-year term as president.

'We need to go to the polling station on one day at one time: 17 March at 12:00. What to do next? You can choose. You can vote for any candidate except Putin. You can spoil your ballot. You can write 'Navalny' in big letters,' Navalnaya said in the video.

She called the March 15-17 vote a 'sham' and said it was obvious Putin would 'draw up any result he wants'.

In a video on YouTube , Navalnaya backed an initiative to try to overload polling stations in this month's nationwide poll, in which Putin is set to secure another six-year term as president

Despite Russia seeming somewhat autocratic, officially, it is still a democracy and Putin needs to be voted back in in order to keep his place in office

Backers of the initiative hope it will be a legal and safe way for Russians to protest against the Kremlin.

Anti-government street rallies and demonstrations are effectively illegal in Russia, and organisers and participants can be sentenced to years in prison.

Navalny had also backed the proposal - which organisers have called 'midday against Putin' - in one of his final posts from jail before he died.

Putin has been the president of Russia almost continuously since 2000. The only time he wasn't was between 2008 and 2012 when he was the county's Prime Minister.

He is the longest serving Soviets leader since Joseph Stalin. 

Despite Russia seeming somewhat autocratic, officially, it is still a democracy and Putin needs to be voted back in in order to keep his place in office.

This, however, is highly likely, due to Putin being believed to have killed the opposition leader that would have presented a challenge.

The Kremlin denies that Navalny had any significant support inside Russia and says Russian society is united behind Putin.

Election authorities have barred genuine opposition candidates from the ballot, and Putin's most vocal critics are dead, in jail or exiled.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Moscow 'will no longer tolerate criticism of our democracy,' as Western governments look set to condemn the upcoming poll as neither free nor fair.

'We will hold the kind of elections that our people need,' he told reporters.

If Putin gets reelected he will continue to be in power for six years.

Alexei Navalmny was Putin's only real challenger - with him out the way, Putin looks all set

Not only mourners gathered at Navalny's funeral, but protestors as well all against the regime

Navalnaya on Wednesday said she had taken hope from thousands who had visited Navalny's grave with flowers and tributes since his burial last Friday

She called them the 'bravest, most honest people in our country', she said the show of support proved there was significant opposition to the Kremlin inside Russia. 

It is hoped that inundating the polling stations with queues to prevent Putin-supporters from getting to cast their vote will result in a different election outcome - or at least, prove a point to the Kremlin.

Navalnaya on Wednesday said she had taken hope from thousands who had visited Navalny's grave with flowers and tributes since his burial last Friday.

Calling them the 'bravest, most honest people in our country', she said the show of support proved there was significant opposition to the Kremlin inside Russia.

'We are many and we are strong,' she said.

Navalny had also backed the proposal - which organisers have called 'midday against Putin' - in one of his final posts from jail before he died. Here is a painting to commemorate the man

Putin has been the president of Russia almost continuously since 2000. The only time he wasn't was between 2008 and 2012 when he was the county's Prime Minister.

The Kremlin had threatened Navalny's mourners with arrest under Moscow's strict anti-protest laws.

Hundreds have been detained while laying flowers and placards at makeshift memorials to the opposition leader across Russia.

Police in Moscow have since arrested at least five people who attended Navalny's funeral or visited his grave, the OVD-Info rights group said.