By Karl Hammer ’25
The world was shocked on February 16 2024 to hear the news of the tragic passing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. While hailed as a hero by many, and as a martyr by some, this news comes after over a decade of persecution and torments at the hands of the Kremlin, which stopped at nothing to silence Navalny.
It was only in the early 2000s when Alexei Navalny decided to take the path of politics, joining the Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko, and quickly rising through the ranks. Rather than ideological alignment, suppressive laws against rival political parties, led by Putin and his cronies, sparked Navalny to pursue politics. It was not until 2013 that Navalny had his first real run-in with the law when he decided to run for the mayoral office of Moscow. This process would prove difficult as he was ludicrously charged with embezzlement and briefly imprisoned. After thousands showed up on the street to protest, he was released without reason. While Navalny did not end up winning the mayoral election, his prevalence and trail-blazing essence secured his position as a strong proponent of democracy, freedom, and corruption reform, much to the chagrin of the Kremlin.
After many years of campaigning, on the 20th of August 2020 while on a trip from Siberia to Moscow, Navalny was severely poisoned by what was later to be identified as an agent working for the Kremlin. After quickly being rushed to the hospital, he was later transferred to a hospital in Germany where he made his recovery. In a gesture of strength and bravery, Navalny determinedly returned to Russia, knowing what would lie ahead for him. Within minutes after landing back in Russia, he was arrested and imprisoned. For the years up until his death, Navalny would continue to send messages to the world, most notably taking to Twitter to indirectly call out Putin and the Kremlin. Undoubtedly, the Kremlin attempted to censor him, although relatively unsuccessfully as more and more Russians took to the streets to protest the injustice of Navalny’s arrest and the state of political affairs.
In December 2023, Navalny’s close allies lost contact with him, while the Russian authorities relocated Navalny to a penal colony in the Arctic Circle, where two months later he would be pronounced dead. Over the last week, the world has been in uproar demanding that questions be answered. With autopsy reports yet to be released, the Kremlin is silent. As a strong proponent of reform in Russia, Navalny’s death will prove to be a great déclencheur for many protests and want for change in the coming months and years. While Navalny may have been ultimately silenced, his message is reborn again. The people of Russia will not stand down any longer against Putin and his crony government.
