First day of presidential elections in Russia and the emotion is not, precisely, in who can win. As can be seen in the images that accompany these lines, on the left, is the only person with the possibility of becoming president of Russia, no more and no less, than for the sixth time. On the right, the brave Russian citizens who have protested this Friday at some polling stations.

Although few have dared to denounce this electoral farce, they are risking their lives, but also sentences of between three and five years in prison. To protest they have resorted to a green liquid, called ‘zelionka’, to dye the ballots. In fact, it is the same one that those around the Kremlin have used to mark Putin’s opponents like Navalny. Also, as a protest, voting booths have been burned.

A woman stands with her back in front of a polling station in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg and suddenly turns around, runs towards the building and throw a Molotov cocktail against the facade. It is another act of ‘anti-Putin’ protest that has been repeated within another school center where they have had to use fire extinguishers to put out the fury of many voters.

Because during such an important day in which “the presidential elections begin”, the ballot boxes are being used as a method of protest not only with flames, but also with the already mentioned and symbolic ‘zelionka’. Since it is the painting that they poured in Alexei Navalny’s face during a demonstration. In this way, many remember the mysteriously deceased Russian opponent.

And the transparency of the elections is also in question, for reasons such as the one that can be seen in the images: the fire erases the ink from the pens placed by the authorities. Although Putin’s own way of voting is also being questioned, a character accustomed since 1999 to a power that does not seem like he will let go.