The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny Dead

[Lottij]

He was feeling unwell after a walk, apparently.

Putin was always going to get him, I don't think anyone doubted it, but my stomach dropped when I just read it.

The scenes where he rings up his would-be assassins and ends up discovering exactly how they poisoned him are gobsmacking.

@StarbucksSmarterSister at 14.50 (for the whole post)

I'm just watching now. That's incredible. I've just got to the part where they publish the footage they filmed of the conversation. The repudiation being that he was deluded and fixated on his own crotch. You couldn't make it up.

So too, that Putin will never refer to him by name.

Edited. It's incredible that he survived that attack

Re: "Indeed. He was no supporter of Ukraine or Georgia against Russian oppression violence and colonial ambition.
If he managed to oust Putin there's every chance Russia would be continuing on the same path.", @DappledThings, I'm not sure that's true? I've dug a bit and not found evidence of that, like I read a manifesto of the party he co-founded ("People") and it recognised that South Ossetia and Transnistria should be left alone (unless that's Russian-speak for "liberated/annexed"?). Opened to links to the contrary. In the Oscar winning documentary about him, it's mentioned a bit. He says he's not interested in a war with Ukraine (and that probably was no later than 2020, so a reference to Crimea/ Donbas).
It sounded like he had disturbing views on immigration from non-Slav countries but Im not sure it's fair to say he only became Anti-Corruption after he failed to get on the gravy train, instead it reads on Wikipedia like he was always obsessed with creating some sort of rule of law in Russia, some sort of functioning state that invests for its people, education, infrastructure at least - the basics, currently not present.
I'd watched the Oscar winning documentary and highly recommend it. Thrilling, amazing, and now sadly tragic.
Regardless of his politics I've been v saddened, and totally in awe of his bravery. And that of his supporters, out today, getting arrested.
RIP.

It doesn't take long to find more.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/3/4/why-ukraine-is-wary-of-the-russian-opposition

https://twitter.com/MuKappa/status/1568287369958129666?t=ypVySQic_jx3_5ZmeuK0bg&s=19

It sounded like he had disturbing views on immigration from non-Slav countries

Yeah. Like, genocide of Jewish and Muslim people.

FFS I mean I get that we all want to categorise the world into heroes and villains but that's not how it is. And that's really not how it is in Russia. It's perfectly possible to be opposed to Putin and be a murderous oligarch. In fact it pretty much demands such.

All these posts from people talking like he was the crown prince of jesus because he went up against Putin, come on. He went against putin because he wanted the top slot for himself and he wasn't a nice guy. "Disturbing" is wearing trousers tucked into socks. Calling for the extermination of Jews and Muslims is a bit more than "disturbing".

There's a really long history of displaced leaders, living in exile from many countries and for many reasons. Including ones displaced from Russia. They are always seen as sad, useless, cowardly, pathetic. If that's the case for my view of them in literature and history, how much more sad must it seem to a Russian.

Leaders have to lead. Think about how the world changed in support of Ukraine when Zelenskyy reportedly said:

“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”

I think, like many courageous opponents to tyranny Navalny is not a saint, but he is to be admired here for his bravery. Russia has a pretty tragic history, under the Tsars for example Jews were persecuted, anti-tsarist writers and intellectuals sent to the gulags as is now the case under Putin. Similarly in the Soviet Union. It has only ever known tyranny. Perhaps naively I hope that one day it can be free.

@MrsTerryPratchett unfortunately he was arrested immediately and wasn't able to do anything.

Gary Kasparov tweeted "Navalny & I disagreed on many things about the past and future of Russia, as with many in the broad anti-Putin coalition. But we agreed that Putin had to go, and that none of the disagreements amongst us would matter until that happened. "Keep fighting," always. RIP."

Russia is a fucking mess. It has been since forever as you rightly point out (although gulags were Stalinist, not tsarist).

Really though at some point you have to think, well do we get the politics we deserve? Same as it is for us with brexit and previously the war on terror and previous to that the civil war in NI that no one talks about any more so it is with Russia and their unholy blood soaked pile of crap. Russians individually are very nice people but the country as a whole is a basket case despite having loads of resources and actually loads of money. That is yes partly to do with NATO/US aggrandisement (the global balance of power looks very different when you're stood in Moscow) but also if the best and most heroic a country can produce is a genocidal oligarch (see also Zelensky who while not genocidal is definitely fascist and also definitely an oligarch) then that country is not in great shape.

Yes, Katorga is the correct word for the Siberian penal labour system under the Tsars.

Navalny was no saint but my God he was a lion compared to that little shit Putin who would never have the guts to do what AN did.

Pretty sure Navalny would have liked to do everything putin has, and more, given the chance. But he didn't make the cut. He had a good old go at it though.

Katorga is the correct word for the Siberian penal labour system under the Tsars.

It's not just a different word though is it. Gulag was monstrous in scale and scope compared with katorga.

The evidence seems to be that Navalny was committed to the rule of law and decent governance, though, Ursulla, it's weird to pretend otherwise.
Ukraine, Latvia etc have expressed sadness at his death, so whatever he said in the past, they can put it in context. Putin is the worse. And yes, Russia is messed up, see the book "everything is true and nothing is possible" by Peter Pomerantsev to appreciate how.

Actually I think it is weird to pretend that an oligarch with multiple properties across Europe and elsewhere and multiple shady as all hell business interests, yachts, pipelines, sticky wee fingers in despotic African states all the rest of it, who for years campaigned on the basis of exterminating Jews and Muslims is committed to the rule of law just because he didn't like putin because Putin is apparently satan incarnate and everyone everywhere who says he's a bad man is on the side of righteousness.

I was so sad to hear this news.

What a brave, courageous and good man.

Ah, the Putin apologist has arrived.

Yep. There’s always at least one and funnily enough they prefer to live in the free world rather than in Putin’s Russia.

Putin Wanted Navalny Dead .
Brussels and Washington wanted Navalny dead.
But just one side is slightly happier than the other.

Why did Brussels and Washington want Navalny dead?

Because some Putin supporters in their warped and twisted imaginations think that the murder of Navalny involved the CIA/ that he was a CIA stooge or that the CIA had him murdered in order to turn Russian people against Putin.

All the usual QAnonsense that Trumpers, Truthers and basement dwellers are drawn to like flies are to turds.

You should see Twitter. It's laughable.

Why do people automatically think " oh look a Putin supporter ? Why would I , a non Russian, Support a regime that doesn’t affect me?
to me people who have this sort of mind set don’t want to look at things from another angle. its like being in an echo chamber,
so no I’m not a Putin supporter nor do I think COVID was conspiracy , and I’m certainly not a Trump supporter.

We are free to asses these matters individually based on current political atmosphere. A Dead popular Political opponent is more valuable To Both sides. He will be used as leverage to further push the assertion that Putin needs to be removed. On the other side Putin has one less opposition out of the way and a stark warning to others.

In that case. I apologise. However your other post was rather cryptic.

He was the hope for regime change.

@CultOfTheAirFryer.. Yes he was when he was alive.. He knew it was a question of " when" " would they kill him if he went back.

Unfortunately I think he made the wrong choice. He