Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny leveraged social media and fatigue with the Kremlin to rise to prominence as one of Russia’s most prolific critics. In his most well-known campaigns, he probed the Kremlin’s inner circle and shared his findings in slick, viral videos. His investigations carried a powerful pocketbook appeal to Russians, resonating with their widespread sense of being cheated by their government.
The shrewd political operator was for years the most prolific critic of President Vladimir Putin and his policies. He helped foment major anti-Kremlin protests and ran several times for public office. He also investigated official corruption, exposing Kremlin insiders and lampooning their lavish lifestyles. He became a symbol of dissent against the ruling elite and Putin himself. Still, his popularity faded after he was poisoned with Novichok in an attack that his supporters say was orchestrated by the Kremlin.
He survived the attack, but in 2021, he was jailed on fraud charges. In the years that followed, he was imprisoned at least three more times in long, drawn-out ordeals. Each time he came back out of prison, he immediately got back to work, targeting high-profile figures and scouring Putin’s inner circle for evidence of wrongdoing.
The relentless work drew the attention of state officials, and in 2013, he was convicted of embezzlement and given a five-year term that he rejected as politically motivated. He was also barred from running for office, with the Kremlin arguing that his criminal record made him ineligible.
In December, he was moved from central Russia to a remote prison colony in the Arctic, known as “Polar Wolf” for its brutal winter weather. His allies decried the move as a deliberate attempt to silence him, and he launched a hunger strike to pressure prison authorities to allow him access to proper medical treatment.
On Friday, he lost consciousness while on a walk and couldn’t be revived by medics, the prison service said. His wife and a son survive him.
Almost immediately, government leaders worldwide and Russian opposition figures issued public statements expressing condolences. But Putin apologists were quick to lash out at the response as proof that NATO and Western governments were conspiring against the country. They pointed out that NATO leaders had also responded the same way to the 2014 murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was critical of the Kremlin and its support for Ukraine’s separatists. That, they argued, proved that the Western reaction was designed to elicit a condemnation of Russia and its leadership from Putin and other top Russian officials. But the sarcasm in such attacks was lost on many who knew Navalny, who always maintained his trademark wit in the face of danger and imprisonment. His death is a further reminder that the Kremlin does not tolerate criticism of its actions and is willing to use any means to stop it.
