Imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has died. In a special edition of the 5:59 podcast, we talk about what this means for Russia with Maria Makeeva, an independent journalist originally from Russia, and Jaroslav Šimov, the editor of the Russian section of Radio Free Europe.
What you will also hear in today’s episode at 5:59
- How a journalist originally from Russia, who met him many times, remembers Alexander Navalny.
- What his death means for contemporary Russia.
- And it can affect the Russian presidential elections, which are to be held in a month.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is dead. A man who was considered a major opponent of Vladimir Putin’s regime has died at the age of 47 in Russia’s Polyarny Volk penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle.
The prison service, quoted by the Kommersant newspaper, said that Navalny became ill on a walk and lost consciousness. Doctors reportedly tried to revive him but failed. The Meduza server wrote that according to a source from the pro-Kremlin RT television, the cause of death was a blood clot.
“This is very important news for Russia and Russian society. But the problem is that not all of Russia understands this,” he says in the 5:59 podcast Maria Makeeva, a freelance journalist originally from Russia who currently lives in Berlin. She reminds that many Russians get their information only from state-controlled television, where Navalny was banned from entering, so it is difficult to estimate how much weight they attach to the report.
According to Makeeva, it cannot be expected that the death of one of Vladimir Putin’s biggest critics would lead to a fundamental change in Russia. Especially after people were willing to tolerate even the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine. “If they didn’t react then, I’m afraid it won’t be any different now,” he thinks. However, for the part of Russian society that strives for democracy, it is said to be a “terrible intervention”.
“I don’t understand where he got his strength from”
During her journalistic work, Makeeva met Alexei Navalny many times, first in Moscow and later in Berlin. Navalny became widely known in Russian society about 15 years ago as a fighter against corruption.
The lawyer, who focused, for example, on protecting the rights of minority owners in parastatal organizations, was initially known as a blogger. His investigations into corruption brought him the attention of a wider audience in Russia. He gradually became one of the most prominent opponents of Putin, who managed to bring tens of thousands of people to anti-Putin demonstrations. In 2020, he survived a poisoning attempt, for which he blamed Vladimir Putin and the FSB intelligence service.
“I don’t understand at all how he could endure everything he went through, especially the struggle in recent years, after the Russian authorities arrested him,” explains the journalist. “He paid for it with his health, which apparently could have been the cause of his death. I never understood where he got his strength from. That is my main impression that he was an incredibly strong person,” he adds.
The death of Alexei Navalny
According to the Russian prison service, Navalny felt sick after the walk, collapsed and lost consciousness. Imprisoned Russian opposition politician dies aged 47. In this text you will find basic information about his death and a large portrait.
European and Czech politicians are reacting to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a penal colony. In addition to their condolences, they also express a clear opinion about the culprit of the tragedy – Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his criminal regime.
Telegram account Sota published footage from the trial of Alexei Navalny. They are only 24 hours old.
The Russian oppositionist was serving a 19-year sentence behind bars. He spent two-thirds of his time in solitary confinement in harsh conditions.
After being poisoned in Russia in 2020, Navalny was first transferred to intensive care at a hospital in Omsk, but later received treatment in Germany. The local government subsequently announced that the poisoning was caused by a poison from the Novichok group. While still in Germany, with the help of the Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, he managed to find out the details of the attempt to assassinate him.
“After this experience, he probably felt that he had nothing left to lose. Perhaps that is why he returned to Russia. At the time, people didn’t understand why he was doing it. Many are talking about it even now, that if he had not returned to Russia, he could be alive,” says Makeeva. It was after his return that Navalny was imprisoned. The Russian courts sent him behind bars for various crimes – including extremism – for 2.5 years, nine years and 19 years. Navalny denied guilt and attributed his imprisonment to the regime’s efforts to silence all opponents and criticism.
Influence on Russian elections?
Navalny died less than a month before the Russian presidential election. According to the editor of the Russian section of Radio Free Europe, Jaroslav Šimov, his death will change almost nothing for them. “Their result is clearly given. Of course, Putin will win, six years ago he got more than 75 percent, now it is said that the presidential administration aims to draw 80 percent for the great leader,” explains Šimov.
And he adds that it might just happen that some will throw the ticket to any other candidate or not go to vote at all. “Which may not be immediately reflected in the official statistics, because they can stuff ballot boxes with falsified tickets. Therefore, I would say that it will affect them very marginally,” says the journalist.
In a special edition of the 5:59 podcast, you’ll also hear what conditions Alexei Navalny has lived in in prison in recent years, or what message the Russian opposition leader left in case he dies behind bars. Listen in the player at the beginning of the article.
Editor and co-editor: Dominika Kubištová, Eduard Freisler
Sound design: David Kaiser
Sources of audio samples: ČT24, ČRo Plus, ČRo Radiožurnál, TV Nova, HBO Max – documentary Navalny, telegram account Sota, YouTube channels WELT Nachrichtensender, BCC, CNN
Podcast 5:59
News podcast of Lenka Kabrhelova’s team. One essential topic every weekday in minute six. The most important events in the Czech Republic, in the world, politics, economy, sport and culture through the lens of Seznam Zpráv.
You can find an archive of all parts on our website. Send us your observations, comments or tips via social networks or by e-mail: zaminutusest@sz.cz.
2024-02-16 21:18:57
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