To feel very sad after Alexei Navalny’s death?

[Acapulco12]

It was horrible to hear on the news the other day that Alexei Navalny had died.

I didn’t know much about him before the news a couple of years ago that he’d been poisoned by the Russian government and had then recovered after being treated in Germany.

Since his death, I’ve been reading about him in the news, and he sounds so principled and full of integrity. His wife does as well. Some of the articles have said that he held views they describe as xenophobic and pro-Russian - e.g. he thought that Crimea was Russian rather than Ukrainian territory. The vast majority of articles focus on how morally courageous he was though, and I think it’s absolutely right to keep this as the focus. I’ve been so impressed at his bravery. I would never be able to be as brave as that in the sort of circumstances he has faced.

The news of his death has been really shocking, because I do think it’s a tragedy for Russian politics and the future of Russia. However, I know it’s not shocking in the sense that it was ‘expected’, in a way - as horrific as that sounds. We all know how brutal the Russian government is, and killing a member of their opposition is part of their MO.

Your last sentence says it all. Disagree with Putin and you're a dead man walking. He is the epitome of a sociopath.

Yes. YABU.

An incredibly brave man has, probably, been killed by by their state.

And you want to make it all about you; "I'm very sad, boo-hoo".

@VeniVidiWeeWee - My intention is absolutely not to make this news all about me. I’m really sorry that it’s come across like that to you in my OP.

I do feel sad about his death for many reasons and I’m sure lots of other people on here do too, because it is very upsetting news and very significant as well. That’s what prompted me to start this thread. I actually think it’s hard not to feel sad about this news, because it involves a very high profile figure who was brave and who risked his life - and paid with his life - after choosing to spend his life challenging the Russian government.

I do not at all, for one second, mean to make this news about me, and I apologise if it’s come across that way in my OP.

I do not at all, for one second, mean to make this news about me, and I apologise if it’s come across that way in my OP.

It didn’t. At all. Don’t worry.

I know what you mean OP, it’s the loss of hope I think. Evil triumphing over good, in simplistic terms.

Christ almighty 🙄

@Acapulco12 Ignore @VeniVidiWeeWee they like to be controversial in their posting style when in fact it's just boring AF.

Agree with you op.
The fact that his death is moving to others is because he was shining a light that Russia needs and rare is the person who is able or inclined to do so against Putin.
His widow put it a video today saying she would carry on his work. It was incredible, I can't even put into words how much I admire her stance, courage and fortitude in the face of the implacable evil who have just taken her husband.

Just finished watching the Navalny documentary on iPlayer. He was an inspirational human being. Can't imagine what his family must be going through.

I agree with you op, I too feel sad.
I’ve just rewatched the Navalny programme on BBC for the second time, I found the content astonishing. What a decent man.

You're not alone in feeling sad @Acapulco12 .
At least we can express that. People in Russia were being arrested and bundled into vans for laying flowers in his memory. How depressing and frightening to live in a country that treats it citizens as expendable.

I'm outraged this can even happen . That man has been murdered for opposing putin .
I am asking myself how this can even happen in this day and age ?

I'm truly sad . I pray outin gets a bullet through the eyes at some point . Sorry but he's so dangerous.

Who would replace him though? Obviously it's noone elses choice other than the Russian voters, but I'd be very wary that it'd be the same again (or worse)

Thanks for your posts. I completely agree with everything you’ve all written. I think you’re all spot on in how you’ve described his death. It feels like we’ve lost hope now, sort of like a light has gone out.

As people have mentioned in their posts, those of us who live in Britain (and most Western countries) are so fortunate to be able to have so much freedom, generally, in how we live our lives and how we choose to protest against government decisions we disagree with.

The news has been so focused on Ukraine over the last 2 years - and rightly so - but every so often, like now, a terrible news story comes in about what Russia is doing to its own people.

Hopefully Russians will have that one day too. It’s really the minimum they deserve and they’ve suffered under Putin for decades now.

Does nothing make you sad, @VeniVidiWeeWee?

No, it invites a conversation about the source of sadness.

Don’t feed the 🤖

Ah there you are proving my point so well.
Sorry for the slight derail if your thread OP.
Indeed Navalny was a very brave man. We all need to stand up against the bully mentality.

You are not being at all unreasonable @Acapulco12. This is a terrible, terrible thing to have happened. Let’s hope it is the catalyst for the change he so desperately wanted 🌷

I also felt it when I heard the news. I watched the Navalny documentary a year or two ago and his courage was extraordinary and Putin's naked brutality and impunity breathtaking.

That said it's a complicated picture because by other standards some of Navalny's views were odious with regards to Muslims, Jews and gays. So it illustrates the challenge of applying our black and white standards to other cultures and not understanding Russian history and ideologies. Russia has been totalitarian for most of its history and Putin is consistent with it - which explains why his absolute power endures and he still enjoys popular support. And many Russians may not hold the same sensibilities that we do. It's a mixed picture and Navalny was not perfect.

But he was a brave opponent and voice.

Very true - I completely agree with this. Thanks @Bouledeneige

I’ve just seen reports in the news that apparently Navalny was killed just before he was due to be released from the penal colony as part of a prisoner exchange. It’s being reported in lots of newspapers - the BBC, Guardian, Telegraph etc.

It makes me feel so angry on his behalf, his family’s behalf and his supporters’ behalf that he was apparently so close to being released when he was killed. Unsurprisingly, this is being suggested as the exact reason for why he was killed when he was killed.

This does seem particularly cruel doesn’t it?

100%. It’s enraged me.

We all know Putin is capable of this kind of thing, and he has done it countless times, but I thought we would finally stand up to him (by ‘we’, I mean EU countries, the USA etc).

It really sticks in my mind that when Navalny was poisoned a couple of years ago and when it wasn’t clear whether he would survive, Biden said that Putin would pay for Navalny’s death.

And yet the moment has now come when Navalny has been killed, and Putin is still doing as he pleases. People in Russia are being jailed for laying flowers to remember Navalny and we are not showing any real proof that we’re standing up to Putin, apart from saying we might use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

I know Putin requires extremely careful handling but this is insane - he’s a monster and he needs to be stopped somehow.