“THE Our first reaction was shock. But shortly after, we realized that Navalny would die because of the regime’s inhumane treatment. When we say that Navalny was murdered by the Russian dictatorship, we mean that it methodized his extermination. The fact that he died on that particular day may have been a coincidence, I doubt if he was poisoned or tortured a little earlier.”. This was argued by speaking to “Vima” from Vienna Michael CominRussian political scientist, analyst at the European think tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) a few hours after the news of his death Alexei Navalny.
In prison
Last Friday, authorities at the maximum-security prison, where he was often held in solitary confinement, announced that during his morning courtship, Navalny felt unwell and died shortly thereafter. News of the death of Russia’s number one dissident sparked international outcry and condemnation from Western leaders.
How much will Navalny’s death affect Russia’s election campaign ahead of the March 17 presidential election, given that the Russian president Vladimir Putin is victory assured? “Putin will try to isolate the fact of Navalny’s death, downplay it in the media he controls, through his election campaign. There certainly cannot be mass protests in Russia because the Kremlin has destroyed, in the last two years, all the relevant infrastructure.
However, symbolic protests already exist. As in the first month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russians are leaving flowers at monuments to political prisoners during the USSR, while Russian social media has been flooded with messages about Navalny..
He will tighten the cord
Putin is trying to convince that he is the sole and legitimate ruler of Russia. Navalny’s death is widely interpreted as a show of strength by the Russian president, who will not let anyone threaten his absolute rule. Russia watchers warn that developments in the Navalny case portend that Putin will tighten the reins after the election.
But the fact that even the imprisonment of Navalny, in an isolated prison in the Arctic Circle, was not enough, shows that the Russian president was afraid of him. “Even behind bars, the dissident leader posed a threat to the corrupt Russian president” the specialist in Russia wrote in “The Atlantic”. Anne Applebaum shortly after his death.
A unifying leader
The question is premature, but one wonders who could “succeed” Navalny in the leadership of the Russian opposition. “Navalny was charismatic, a leader who united the fragmented Russian opposition.
He can’t replace him either Garry Kasparov nor the Mikhail Khodorkovsky. But often, the figures who oppose Putin come out of nowhere. Last semester we saw the relatively unknown journalist Ekaterina Dutsova who wanted to run as an independent candidate in the elections. Putin forbade her, but there are people who believe in her and support her.”
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