Navalny’s friends knew he was willing to become a martyr if that’s what it took to stand up to Putin.
Alexei Navalny’s long struggle against President Putin began with a humorous blog and culminated in repeated demonstrations of his willingness to risk his own life. According to the Russian authorities on Friday, he has now died in prison.
Russia’s leading opposition voice has been silenced.
Other dissident figures went into exile or died in mysterious circumstances over the past decade, leaving Navalny as the last national figure with a dedicated following.
Though he had been arrested many times before, Navalny’s defining moment in the eyes of many Russians came after the attempt to assassinate him with Novichok. He recuperated in the sanctuary of a German hospital but chose to defy Putin and return to Russia in January 2021, knowing full well he would end up in prison.
Sergei Magnitsky already did this in 2009, but I suppose we needed a reminder.
I always questioned why he went back to Russia. I thought he could have done so much more outside of a Russian prison. Intentionally in the middle of nowhere, cut off from his supporters and fellow Russians
But he loved his country and held steadfast in his principles. He is a greater man than many. Could you trust yourself on how you would act when tested the way he was.
Could you trust yourself on how you would act when tested the way he was.
Absolutely. I trust that I would run away like a little bitch. Dude had balls of steel and I truly hope he managed to show the Russian population what a tyrant putin is.
I truly hope he managed to show the Russian population what a tyrant putin is.
He did. And I recoomend you to watch it. Dude investigated his own poisoning.
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Absolutely, most people that think they’d take the high road and do the right thing in this situation are not being honest with themselves. As much as I’d love to believe that I would sacrifice everything to fight tiranny, I just know that when the time comes I would choose the easy way out and espace somwhere for a better life.
He seems like a true patriot in a land of nationalists
There have been examples of the past where martyrs did change the direction of history. Maybe he hoped it would be similar and I guess we are at the find out stage.
Even Lenin stayed out of Russia when the government set it sights on him and waited for a more oportune time to come back. Here’s to hoping Martyrdom will change things, but Russians are very very used to things getting worse and just taking it on the chin.
Fucking hell, when you put it that way…
Happy endings are banned in Slavic history
I thought the same, couldn’t figure out why he returned to Russia when he could do more when he was free. Still, his courage is admirable, I wouldn’t have been able to steel my nerves to do what’s right in the face of these dangers.
Going back to be locked up, abused, and die isn’t exactly “right”.
What’s better is to live another day to continue fighting.
I meant in general when opposing powerful bad people, like had he stayed in Germany and continued fighting. I wouldn’t have been able to steel myself to become someone who is a direct enemy of someone who clearly has the power and intent to assassinate his opponents.
I mean I doubt he would have been safe even if he didn’t go back. Maybe a little bit, but how long before he gets polonium tea, or nerve agented?
They already had tried to get him with Novichock and just barely didn’t kill him. I’m sure they’d have tried again.
Putin was one already.
Further investigation has revealed he died of a rare condition where his balls were just too damn big. There are a lot of people in Russia, but not many at all this brave and resolute. I hope his death awakens more of this rebellious spirit. All evil dictators have a tipping point. Nothing is impossible. Fuck Putin. Fuck the oligarchy. Fuck the propaganda machine. Fuck the military. Fuck them hard.
The day we all knew was coming, sadly. The day he set foot on that plane back to Moscow from Germany, it was not a question of if but when this would happen.
Be careful who you praise:
Navalny took part in the Russian March, an annual demonstration in Moscow that draws ultranationalists, including some who adopt swastika-like symbols. In 2008, Navalny, like an apparent majority of Russians, supported Russian aggression in Georgia. In 2013, he made illegal immigration from Central Asia a central theme of his campaign for mayor of Moscow. In 2014, after Russia occupied Crimea, he said that, while he opposed the invasion, he did not think that Crimea could be just “handed back” by a post-Putin Russian government.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-evolution-of-alexey-navalnys-nationalism
Better than Putin. Navalny was at least a step in the right direction, despite his many flaws.
Better in the sense that there were Nazis less crazy than Hitler? Dude supported the invasion and annexation of part of Georgia, and said Russia shouldn’t give back Crimea to Ukraine in 2014.
He apologized later, but when he was running for president he was still a bad dude.
There’s an important difference in Russia and British India. If a Gandhi appeared in Russia, he’d just be thrown in jail and forgotten there. It’s possible that this has happened already. This is nothing new: it’s what they have been doing to political dissidents for centuries.
Gandhi’s methods worked in India partially because the British Empire had democratic and liberal principles that even as colonial lords they valued enough not to blatantly break.
And in Russia, you have to appeal to the Nationalists which make up a significant portion of the population. Nationalism doesn’t necessarily mean Nazis.
Navalny appealed to them and was much more in line with western principles than Putin. Like I originally said, Navalny wasn’t perfect but he was a better option than Putin. Seems a few people disagree with me.
I wonder how local fauna will react to Bashkir nationalist Salawat Yulayev. Probably their views will align with Russian Empire’s. And will be opposite to Republic Baskortostan’s. For Bashkirs he is national hero.
For those wondering where Bashkiria is it is roughly in the middle of Russia.
How is a Nazi a “step in the right direction”? There is a lot of opposition to Putin that’s worth supporting, Nazism isn’t one of them
In the same way that Biden is preferable to Trump. Biden is far from perfect, has lukewarm political leanings, only advances soft-left policies to better his own election chances and keeps a cop as a vp.
But Trump is an actual war mongering lunatic wannabe fascist. Sometimes it’s about the lesser evil.
Yes, you could say there are plenty of people more worth supporting than these two old farts, but none of them are on the ballot are they?
It’s that situation with Russia. Putin is an actual, proven warmonger who kills his own countrymen to hold on to power. Someone who doesn’t do either of those things and respects the will of the people is a step up, regardless of their politics, because that person can be voted out.
You’re only saying that because you know what Putin is like in power, with his racist remarks and Nazi affiliations you don’t even know how worse it could have been with Navalny
Racist remarks
You mean like how putin criminalized being gay? It’s one thing to make remarks, it’s another thing to actually oppress an minority by claiming their existence is propaganda.
Nazi affiliation
So taking nazis from prison with the promise of a pardon if they fight on russias front line is… What?
You’re only saying that because you know what Putin is like in power
This is an incredible fallacy. I’m almost lost for words. First of all, any line of logic that relies on the premise “you’re just saying that because you don’t understand how much worse it could be” is just plain wrong. I could say with the exact same amount of confidence that you don’t understand how much better it could be.
But also, Putin is by far the most dangerous leader the world has seen since Hitler. He’s an actual fascist, who disappears people who pose any kind of threat to him. He’s single handedly swinging his entire country into a war they don’t want because he feels entitled to Ukrainian land.
I’d take my chances on literally anyone else who respected the vote. Putin does not. I’d take my chances on someone who would end the war. Putin will a million of his own die before he even considers it.
Pushing the whole “Navalny was a nazi so he’s automatically worse” is really downplaying how incredibly evil putin actually is. I mean, he’s basically already a nazi in all but name.
Get out of here with your Russian apologetics.
only advances soft-left policies
Soft-left? Biden is more right than Navalny.
Biden and rest of American “left”: maybe we shold do some student debt relief? Just a tini-tiny. If you don’t mind.
Party started by literal member of Union of Right Forces: universal education, state must provide students with everything(including housing and food) so they don’t worry about anything else other than learning, state must provide teachers with everything(including decent salary) so they don’t wory about anything else other than teaching, state must provide universities with all necessary equipment, buildings must be maintained in good condition(so ceiling wouldn’t fall on students’ and teachers’ heads)!
A lot of people on the internet think there’s an electable Abraham Lincoln instead of what the reality is
What makes you think he was a Nazi? I really hate how watered down the word Nazi is these days. You’re being hyperbolic.
He compared the people from the region of Caucasus to cockroaches who should be shot and had skinhead and neonazi affiliations.He also supported the invasion of Georgia in 2008, comparing Georgians to rodents. He regularly attended marches of a racist which the slogan is “Russia for ethnic russians”, posted a video where he called for deportations of immigrants…
It’s not a case of exaggeration, he was anti Putin because he wanted a racist in power.
“Navalny released YouTube videos in which he likened Islamic militants to cockroaches, called for the deportation of immigrant workers, and vowed to defend the rights of ethnic Russians in Russia.”
This is a pretty mainstream view for a lot of countries.
Anti immigration doesn’t mean you’re a racist.
For context on militants: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamil_Basayev
I’m not sure if you’re right or wrong. We are talking about comments made over 15 years ago.
Let me put it to you this way - would you rather Putin or Navalny in charge of Russia?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qucpwhtWFjk
It’s still on his Youtube channel. He even shoots a woman in hijab in it! But all his useful idiots will ask you to ignore these dog-whistles. This is of course from back in the day when he was the co-funder of the ultranationalist party National Russian Liberation Movement, that among other things wanted South Ossetia and Abkhazia be made independent from Georgia alá Donbas.
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It’s still on his Youtube channel.
No?.. How? He didn’t even create his channel until mayor campaign. This video was made years before that?
He even shoots a woman in hijab in it!
Where?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNJiO10SWw
It’s his verified account, what more do you want? Argue thats it’s impossible for him to ever have created a new one?
As for where? The video is 40 seconds long, even the most ticktock addicted 4 year old have the attention span to see it.
He compared the people from the region of Caucasus to cockroaches who should be shot
Navalny: *talks about how terrible for Russia Kadirov’s personal army is*
Americans: He must be a racist!
Kadirov’s personal army: *Joins war in Ukraine. On Putin’s side.*
Americans: Navalny is the worst!
“It was a long time ago,” Alexander Verkhovsky, head of the Moscow-based Sova hate crimes monitor, told Al Jazeera in 2021, describing Navalny as “a different man now”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/16/obit-navalny-putins-archenemy-and-anti-corruption-champion
he did not think that Crimea could be just “handed back” by a post-Putin Russian government.
It is interesting way to rephrase his “Crimea is not a sandwich with sausage to return it back and forth”. For context in 2014 propaganda was talking about annexation as “returning” Crimea to Russia.
oof
Like we didn’t know that
This will be perceived as whataboutism, but it’s intended as media critique. Julien Assange is a journalist that has been a political prisoner for more than a decade with failing health and he might well die in prison for what he believes in (freedom and accountability to those in power).
Yet the overall propaganda is very strong, he’s been smeared by propaganda (similar to how Russian people might have stories in their head against Navalny) and no US mainstream news corp would call Biden or Trump “a Monster” for doing this.
I’m very sorry Navalny died and he’s a martyr for democracy and freedom. But I can’t help to think how hollow and hypocritical this is. If Russia were to be “freed” / regime changed then this is the glorious example of what awaits them? And that is why Russians aren’t overly eager to supplant Putin, they know they think they’ll just get a different kind of shit government like in the US. Best they could hope for is something like a european social democratic government that only aiding a little bit in genocide. And I do wish that for them and hope Putin is ousted.
Please correct me if I’m wrong but Assange held back dirt obtained on Republicans and only passed out information damaging to Democrats. It’s been a long morning.
Who’s not happy can go here https://neputin.org/ And maybe even here https://shtab.navalny.com/
The sacrifice was in vain, we know Putin is a shithead.
Which “we” are you talking about? Because a lot of Russians vote for him (and I don’t mean just the fake votes, but the real ones as well).
The Other Mr. President - by This American Life did a really great episode interviewing Russians on their thoughts and feelings on Putin.
And did he change their opinion?
The Russian ballot box is a paper shredder that increments “Putin” by 1.
Votes don’t matter in Russia
They may not matter in a sense that you can’t elect anybody but Putin.
But they do matter in a sense of showing the incumbent they aren’t stable.
After successful re-election of incumbent, they fall into a sense of euphoria. This leads to creation of some absolutely horrific and unjust laws.
However, when the re-election is deemed unsuccessful (say 55% voted for “the right candidate”, but the second place got scary high 30-35%), they become timid.
That’s how informational autocracies work. And that’s why elections there absolutely do matter, as they directly affect quality of life. It’s the safest and loudest way of showing the government your middle finger.
They matter. You vote Putin or you vote Putin but the government notes your impropriety. Voting is a purity test.
There’s only one name on the ballot.
Did he really need to sacrifice himself for that?
Is there seriously anyone who was in denial until they learned about Navalny?
Villaviciencio here in Ecuador also sacrificed himself. Yes, people do that…
Yes, but this is Navalny in Russia.
Sadly, yes. Russian State Media is the only source of information for a lot of “normal” Russians. Although that sadly also means that his sacrifice most likely won’t have a large impact on the Russian political landscape.
Then it’s worse than I thought.
Kind of strange that a culture with so many pariahs seems to also have a stranglehold on any dissent.
I guess China is the same way, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Don’t idolize people, especially don’t idolize politicians. He died for a generally pro-social cause but that is the extent of the take-away here
This isn’t your standard politician. This man went up against Putin knowing he’d probably be killed. That is something to idolize. Standing up against tyrants and villains. This is a weird thing to post about someone who died in such a way.
well he’s a fucking nazi so maybe we stop valorizing him.
- Fuck Putin to death
- Explain to me why it’s good to idolize a public figure, you cowards
I don’t understand why he returned to Russia just to get killed.
It doesn’t seem to have achieved anything. Did he think the rigged Russian courts would save him?
Snowden and Assange doing everything they can to stay out of the claws of their fascist overlords, but Navalny just handed himself over to his…
That’s called dedicating your life to a cause. He knew he was going to be killed and was willing to give up his life to hopefully bring down Putin at some point hopefully in the future
I don’t understand why he returned to Russia just to get killed.
Because in Russia you have to sacrifice yourself and suffer to be “real” politician, and not “stay in cozy Germany”, “preaching from abroad”. Navalny and other imprisoned politicians believe this too, they’re the product of the same society after all.
Actually true. If you remember the “Inception” movie (with di Caprio, but a good one), there’s one thing I’d really want to plant into most Russian-speaking people’s brains.
That they don’t owe anyone suffering or proof or other such things.
And also that when you concentrate on proving that you are true to some goal, you lose the goal. It doesn’t matter how much you sacrifice proving, you may even die, because you still divert from the goal of doing X to the goal of proving that you really want to do X.
Those who don’t understand that paid little attention to his life and his fight. I suggest you checking out the Navalny documentary at least.
Got a title or a link for the uninformed?
It’s called Navalny. They made it available for free here though not sure if proper subtitles are included https://navalny-film.io/
Otherwise it’s on streaming platforms and torrents.
Awesome thank you
Not a care in russia. As long as there is some vodka and sausage, nobody’s moving a finger.
There are wives protests with slogan “I’m tired, return my husband”. But yeah, no big protests in Moscow. Only police closing brony convention.
As long as there is some vodka and sausage
Huh, Guess I’m Russian then.
