Mass protests broke out in Russia this week. Tens of thousands of people in over one hundred Russian towns and cities rallied against the establishment - the most widespread protests in Putin’s two decades in charge.
They were protesting the arrest of Alexei Navalny, a man seen as the main opposition to Russian President Valdimir Putin. Navalny, charged with violating the terms of a suspended sentence, was arrested as he returned from Germany on the 17th of January.
Navalny is a lawyer by trade but has been politically active since the early 2000s. He started his activism by blogging about corruption in Russia. He then bought stocks in Russian oil companies which allowed him to attend shareholder meetings and witness the corruption first-hand. He is the leader of the Russia of the Future party and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. In 2013, Navalny ran for Mayor of Moscow and lost to a Putin appointee. In 2016, he started a campaign to run for president in 2018 but was barred by Russia’s Central Electoral Commission.
His activism has come at a price. In 2017, he was attacked with a green liquid that compromised his vision. In 2019, while in jail, he was poisoned. Navalny has been convicted of financial wrong-doing three times. Last August, he was poisoned while flying. Now, he is in jail again.
But with each move from Putin, Navalny grows stronger. After the August 2020 poisoning Navalny even joked that his death would have a bigger impact on the Kremlin than his activism ever could. This may sound dark, but it shows Navalny’s uncanny ability to manipulate Putin. After this comment, Putin could no longer simply kill him off. After his most recent arrest, Navalny posted a video saying he had no plans of committing suicide. You might ask why he would even mention this, but it now means Putin cannot stage his death with any credibility.
Navalny has shown this same nous online where he has developed the majority of his following. He started with a blog and then produced a short film that ridiculed and mocked former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev. In his most recent documentary called ‘Palace for Putin’, he revealed that Putin has built a $1billion residence on the coast of the Black Sea. The documentary, released on his YouTube channel, received over 20 million views in its first day.
Navalny has been dubbed ‘the man Vladimir Putin fears most’. He combines extreme bravery, impressive investigative work and an expert ability in manipulating social media. He is the leader in the movement against the Russian establishment. He is the greatest threat Putin has ever faced.
— Jonathan Lewis (@lonnyjewis)