The power struggle is raging in Russia: Alexey Navalny is calling for Putin to be voted out – and is hiding messages in QR codes on billboards in Moscow. The Kremlin reacts.
Moscow – Despite being imprisoned, the opposition remains vocal: Alexei Navalny wants to prevent the re-election of Vladimir Putin as Russia’s president – and uses a trick to spread his message among the people. Allies of the Kremlin critic had cracked the matrix barcodes on Moscow billboards and used them to direct readers to an anti-Putin campaign for the 2024 presidential election. But the bluff was blown, like that Moscow Times reported on Friday (December 8). There was immediately a city-wide ban on QR codes on advertising signs. And concern about Putin’s adversary is growing.
“Everyone but Putin”: Navalny starts campaign for the 2024 election in Russia – and manipulates QR codes
The fight for the presidency Russia Anyway, it’s picking up speed. A few days ago, the Kremlin confirmed the official date for the 2024 elections. They are scheduled to take place in March. Immediately after the announcement, imprisoned opposition figure Alexei Navalny called on all voters to elect a new Kremlin leader. “Anyone but Putin” was the campaign slogan. Undeterred, Putin announced his renewed candidacy on Friday.
Navalny’s team launched the website neputin.org specifically for the counter-campaign, which calls on Russians to convince others to vote against Putin. To access the website, a QR code was used, which was displayed on billboards across the country. The QR codes were disguised as harmless New Year’s greetings and contained the message “Russia. Happy New Year”. As soon as the authorities found out about the deception, the billboards were said to have been removed immediately.
Navalny’s trick is exposed – Kremlin bans advertising boards
According to the independent news source Sota The Moscow city government issued an instruction to advertising distributors to exclude QR codes from billboards from now on. The reason: QR codes, as online links, contain various information and are susceptible to changes – which would violate Russian advertising law. Therefore a ban.
Like the news portal Meduza reported, the QR code that led to neputin.org was initially redirected to another website that was promoting a nationwide art competition. Navalny’s allies then likely redirected the code to point to the anti-Putin campaign website neputin.org, the report said. Then on Friday, Navalny’s team said that Russia’s communications regulator had blocked access to neputin.org.
First poisoning, then circulatory collapse: Navalny is said to be ill in solitary confinement
Despite the looming election dispute, Navalny’s supporters continue to be very worried about their leader. Navalny, who barely survived a poisoning a few years ago, is said to have suffered a circulatory collapse in prison. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the imprisoned Russian opposition figure on the X platform. The 47-year-old is serving a total of more than 30 years in prison in a penal colony. The health condition is most likely worrying, reported the Mirror.
According to the report, the lawyers of the imprisoned Putin opponent were recently prevented from gaining access to him. But it seems like that Navalny became ill in his solitary confinement cell and lay down on the floor. The prison staff then treated him and gave him an infusion. It is unclear what exactly led to the incident, but due to poor prison conditions and lack of food intake, it is suspected that it may have been a collapse due to starvation. However, the reports cannot currently be independently verified. (jeki)
Editor Jens Kiffmeier wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
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