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.

  • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    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

    • uis@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      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.

      • CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        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

        • Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          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.

          • uis@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            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)!

        • ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          What makes you think he was a Nazi? I really hate how watered down the word Nazi is these days. You’re being hyperbolic.

          • CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml
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            5 months ago

            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.

            • ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              “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.

            • uis@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              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!

            • Iceman@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              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.

              • uis@lemm.ee
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                5 months ago

                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?