On the 16th of February, Alexei Navalny, Putin’s most potent opponent, having created waves through his YouTube platform and organization of protests, died in an Arctic Prison Camp where he had been held since December 2023. His death and in fact the struggle he had to endure during his life, including his unlawful arrests and torture while in prison stands testament to the prevalent and deep rooted presence of corruption tied inextricably to Russian politics, the house of cards that carries at its helm Vladimir Putin.
Alexei Navalny was a lawyer who began his political career in the 2000s. He started gaining prominence since 2010. In 2011 he got his big break when allegations of widespread fraud in the recently held Duma elections in December coupled with the announcement of Putin’s return to presidency the previous September brought thousands of protesters on the streets of Moscow. While Navalny did not orchestrate the protests, his compelling charisma and adoption of a more radical discourse propelled him to the forefront of the demonstrations, eclipsing well-established opposition figures like Boris Nemtsov. While the demonstrations couldn’t prevent Putin’s re-elections in March 2012, they certainly made their presence felt and nudged the Kremlin to change their tack and experiment with allowing the opposition to stand in elections. Russian society and politics is underpinned by the presence of wealthy elites who extend considerable control over the country’s material resources. Those on good terms with Putin continue to manage their businesses whereas those regarded as being in opposition find themselves facing embezzlement charges, having their assets confiscated and even as morbid as it may sound, disappearing or dying under unclear circumstances. Navalny sought to shed light on the corrupt underpinnings of this system that had been so normalised, that elections had been reduced to mere gimmicks that would take place every few years.
Navalny, was of both Russian and Ukrainian descent, born and raised in Russia, his father and mother ran a basket weaving factory, he had studied, worked and married in Russia, his wife Yulia Navalyana was Russian. Everything about him was inherently Russian and so he couldn’t be excluded and brushed aside as being an outsider with contention against the system derived from the West. In 2013 he ran for the post of Mayor in the elections held for Moscow, he came second, winning 27% of the votes, indicating he had been influencing the voters mindset, however the incumbent mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, won the 51% he needed to avoid a run-off with Navalny. While his political platform initially alienated many young urban individuals who might have otherwise supported an opposition candidate, Navalny's remarkable performance enabled him to remain in the political limelight and pursue increased influence. Recognizing that his nationalist and Islamophobic messaging lacked broad appeal among Russians, he shifted his focus to corruption, a pervasive issue impacting people's daily lives.
Navalny strategically established a network of opposition figures across Russia and garnered a substantial social media following, notably by sharing corruption exposés on YouTube. While this elevated Navalny's profile, it posed limitations in challenging Putin's enduring popularity.
In 2016 he announced he’d be running in the presidential elections of 2018 against Putin. While the significance of that campaign was probably mostly symbolic, considering the skepticism surrounding the fairness of the elections and Navalny's limited popularity among Russians, his global backing increased gradually. This was due to his emergence as one of the few outspoken dissidents within Russia.
He blew up considerably in 2020 when there was an attempt on his life, while he was boarding a flight to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk, he was poisoned by Russian FSB agents using the highly lethal poison Novichok developed by Soviet scientists for the purposes of warfare during the Cold War years. It was a signature, a sign that the new Big Brother was watching. After recovering in a hospital in Berlin, he released a video featuring him with the help of an external investigative agency Bellingcat, getting a confession out of some Russian officials who had allegedly planned his murder, the video (titled: “I called my killer. He confessed”) went viral and did the rounds on social media. Navalny asserted that he engaged in a conversation with an individual whom he identified as Konstantin Kudryavtsev, purportedly a member of an eight-person team assigned the responsibility of poisoning him. In January 2021 he returned to Russia, while his friends and supporters may have advised to lean on the side of caution, he had a statement to make, he wanted to remain politically relevant and felt Putin shouldn’t feel he had gotten rid of him.
There are still debates about whether his return was the best course of action to take as it was eminently clear he would be arrested upon his arrival into Russia. This precisely is what unfolded. He was arrested on the grounds of violating his earlier parole, he was charged for extremism, he got 30 years all in all after being part of the trials conducted in 2022-23. His networks and organization came under fire and were shut down, his allies threatened and silenced, his lawyers arrested, deported, or forced to flee to avoid prosecution. Through it all his significantly reduced team kept posting on his social media handles. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2021, Navalny spoke out vociferously against it.
The last two years of his life have been restricted to glass holdings, trials from remote locations and stricter punishments of confinements and solitary spaces, he has gone on hunger strike to protest against the conditions under which he was being kept. Protests and demonstrations across Russia fuelled by Western leaders had been demanding his immediate release, a petition signed by over 400 doctors demanding his release on the grounds of him not receiving adequate care for his flu and deteriorating health which they felt could’ve been indicative of gradual poisoning.
According to Masha Gessen, few had undergone a change in ideological standing like Navalny did. From being an ethnic nationalist and supporter of gun rights and Islamophobia he started rallying behind civic nationalism, he saw and understood the importance of social welfare and dedicated his efforts to achieving that goal. His major shortcoming was seeing the cruelty and murderous intent of the state as being one of greed and thievery.
His death marks a grim future for dissent in Putin’s Russia and an estrangement from the ideals of free speech and maintaining accountability of one’s leaders, a sliver of functioning democracy. Ultimately the rhetoric of the Kremlin has been to deny any oxygen to such information to strip it of any importance and relevance, Putin has yet to say the very name of Alexei Navalny once on national television. He seems content with the way the war on Ukraine seems to be turning out, while leaders like Biden and organisations like the EU, Amnesty International have been demanding answers and accountability from Putin, the Kremlin is still not revealing the conditions under which Navalny died or handing his body over to his family.
Navalny’s death brought people to the streets, candle vigils were conducted and prayers were sent for his family. His wife, having been his pillar, vowed during the Munich Security conference held on the 16th, having heard of his passing, to carry forth his vision for a more liberal Russia. Her statement carried much strength and resilience with it, her transition to politics through the passing of her husband isn’t novel. What remains to be seen is how she will reinvigorate the movement and how the state will perceive her dissidence. P.C - https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=ef71f34d62d470b0&rlz=1C1VDKB_enIN967IN967&q=alexei+navalny%27s+politics&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHyffq_d2EAxVU8qACHS_KDIoQ0pQJegQICRAB&biw=1536&bih=703&dpr=1.25#imgrc=rLLv0pTxEknE2M
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