The terrible death of well-known Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny sends shockwaves through international political circles, leaving the globe in shock. As a ferocious opponent of the Kremlin, Navalny attracted notice worldwide for his stubborn opposition to corruption and tyranny.
His sudden death is a significant loss for Russia’s opposition movement, leaving supporters in mourning and raising questions about the country’s future for dissent. Navalny faced many obstacles in his quest for democracy and openness. Thus, his untimely passing is a tragic event in the ongoing fight for political freedom in Russia and around the world.
Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Dies
A new breed of opposition leader who inspired a younger generation of Russians, Alexei Navalny, passed away in a Siberian prison at the age of 47. He waged a never-ending campaign against Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, holding him accountable for the country’s extreme corruption.
Navalny was clearly at a disadvantage in this, which was not fair. He did, however, accomplish far more than a great deal of previous opposition leaders. By leaking embarrassing information and employing his “smart voting” tactic to try and deny the president’s United Russia party votes, he was able to hit Putin where it hurt.
He also orchestrated protests that drew tens of thousands, often even more, of people into the streets, which the Kremlin found challenging to control.
Novichok Poisoning
2020 was a seismic turning moment in Navalny’s history. That was the year he managed to survive being injected with Novichok, a nerve toxin. He said that Putin and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had tried to kill him after he had received life-saving medical care in Germany. When he healed, he made the risky decision to go back to Russia.
He was taken into custody right away and given a prison term. An international uproar resulted from this, and some commentators even compared the anti-corruption campaigner to “a Russian Nelson Mandela.” To others, he resembled a brave and selfless Russian fairy tale knight, eager to give his life in battle.
In December of last year, Navalny vanished for a few weeks. He had been moved to the prison camp in the extreme north of Siberia, it was later found. Navalny thought that the Russian government intended to further isolate him in the run-up to the March presidential elections.
He had already filed several complaints against the continuous violations of his rights while incarcerated. Ultimately, he utilized his court appearances to deliver scathing critiques of Moscow’s warning against Ukraine and Putin’s autocratic authority. Eventually, Navalny lost his right to appear in court, not even via video.
Early life
In 1976, Navalny was born not far from Moscow. His mother was a businesswoman, and his father was an army commander. After studying law, securities, and exchanges, he moved on to practice law and became a businessman.
In his mid-20s, Navalny entered politics by joining the left-leaning Yabloko party. Due to his nationalist inclinations and a falling out with the leadership, he was kicked out of the party in 2007.
He made his most divisive remarks at this point, which cost him the sympathies of a large number of opposition members and would haunt him until his death. He became associated with the Russian March, which unites nationalist forces in the nation and is infamous for its anti-immigrant stance and racist views towards people from the Caucasus in particular and joined the far-right NAROD movement (The People).
In an attempt to back away from his previous remarks, Navalny expressed regret for calling Georgians “rodents” and making disparaging remarks about them. His excuses, meanwhile, fell short of compelling.
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Anti-corruption Campaigner
He was divisive for additional reasons as well. Some found it difficult to recognize him as a leader because of his propensity for self-promotion and what occasionally seemed to be arrogance toward journalists.
His politics remained highly ambiguous for a very long period. After he pledged to increase the minimum wage and the amount spent on health and education, he started to lean left.
But his true passion was fighting corruption, a cause that Russians take very seriously, based on a number of polls. As a blogger, he gained notoriety by publishing disclosures that attracted hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions, of followers and an endless list of formidable adversaries.
His Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), a media organization that produced intelligent documentaries examining and exposing corruption among the Russian elite, was made possible by the job he did.
Early in 2021, “Putin’s Palace,” a post about a massive mansion on the Black Sea thought to have been constructed for the Russian president, received over 100 million views in just two weeks after it was put online.
Being a contemporary politician, Navalny was a master of social media. He would share a picture of himself and his family on Facebook or post a selfie of himself running on Instagram. His primary motivation for using social media was that, in Putin’s Russia, he had no access to mainstream media.
With one notable exception, Navalny was unable to enter politics legally, and his party was not officially recognized. He participated in the 2013 Moscow mayoral campaign and finished second with about a third of the vote. The Kremlin then made every effort to prevent him from entering politics.
Subtle Sense of Humour
A noteworthy feature of Navalny’s persona was his nuanced sense of humor. “Hi, this is Navalny,” was his first Instagram post following the poisoning. I’m missing you. He continued by explaining that he could breathe entirely on his own and making light of the fact that many others had undervalued this fantastic technique. “It’s recommended,” he continued.
He knew early on that humor would be a more effective way to engage young people than dry political analysis, so he included jokes in all of his videos and even in court. Oscar-worthy was his call to an FSB agent he suspected of poisoning him; he provided details on how to get rid of the nerve agent residue on his jeans.
Nonetheless, Navalny alienated a sizable portion of the Russian populace by focusing on a younger demographic. A minority, his supporters were members of the educated urban middle class.
He failed to connect with sizable segments of the elderly populace, many of whom accepted official propaganda painting him as a criminal and Western stooge.
A new chapter in Russian history has begun with his death. The nation has lost its most potent opposition leader, someone who demonstrated that defying the Kremlin is feasible even while incarcerated. However, Navalny has been denied Mandela’s fate, who went on to become his nation’s president following his release.
