The days-long hunger strike of former Duma deputy, Oleg Shein against vote rigging, has attracted national attention.

      Oleg Shein, a former deputy for the A Just Russia party, took part in elections for the post of Astrakhan Mayor in March 2012. According to official data, he took the second place with 30%, while United Russia candidate Mikhail Stolyarov won the race with 60%. However, according to the number of votes in the final protocols obtained by monitors, the results differ dramatically from the officially published information.

      Oleg Shein started his hunger strike on March 15, so now it is on its 25th day. Shein already has some health problems, he is very weak, but still promises to refuse to eat for 100 days. At least 30 his supporters joined him in his hunger strike. 

      Oleg Shein's action attracted attention of many opposition activists, including well-known persons. Left Wing movement leader Sergey Udaltsov also joined the hunger strike to support Shein. Opposition blogger Alexey Navalny went to Astrakhan and urged all his supporters do the same. Many people are now coordinating trips to Astrakhan in different social networks. 

      There were also several protest actions in Astrakhan, though the number of protesters wasn't very big. Some people even tried to set a tent near the Astrakhan administration office but were stopped by the police.  

Sources: Lenta.ru Gazeta.ru Image: newsfiber.com