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.
"The oppositionist added that if Crimea is annexed, the Russian economy will weaken, and this, in turn, may lead to the desire of some subjects of the Federation to secede from the country. " - your source Ah yes, what a sweetheart. He doesn’t think it is good to annex Crimea. Yet he wants to continue using the Black Sea and I assume the military bases in Crimea and use it to keep Ukraine out of NATO. So same goal as Putin, just thinks annexing was a mistake strategically not morally.
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