World APPROACHES
Navalnaya will have to decide whether to lead the change from within, like her husband, or from outside, like Tijanóvskaya.
What do the journalists have in common? Anna Politkovskayaactivist Natalya Estemirova and agent Alexander Litvinenko? The first two investigated human rights violations committed during the Chechen war. The third escaped to the United Kingdom after a recognized career in the secret services, and after threatening to reveal the dark businesses and plans sponsored by the Kremlin.
What happened to the contractor Prigozhin? What happened to the lawyer Magnitsky? What happened to the opponent Boris Nemtsov? They all shared the same fate. All of them died suddenly, shot, poisoned or accidentally, after denouncing the corruption of the court of Vladimir Putinafter investigating military actions and abuses by the Army, or after criticizing the tsar’s authoritarianism since his arrival at the summit at the end of ’99.
He has joined the list of corpses Alexei Navalnythe most popular opponent in a long time: the democratic leader who took thousands of compatriots to the streets to protest against the regime in a country where speaking out against the leader comes at a high price.
His fight against corruption appealed to millions of Russians, horrified by the opulent lives of the KGB heirs in a country where two in ten Russians relieve themselves in latrines. What he achieved was simply impressive. Three years ago, one of their mobilizations ended with a police repression televised around the world and Moscow’s dungeons filled to the brim, as more than 5,000 people were detained.
Putin showed no mercy to Navalny. First they poisoned him. He survived. Then they imprisoned him. He endured it. Finally they transferred him to a center in the Arctic, under what conditions. And there he died on February 16 at the age of 47.
“Putin’s defeat in Ukraine would open an opportunity for transition in Russia”
Many wonder what will become of the fight for democracy in Russia now. The most popular opponents are in exile, in prison or dead. So what hope is there left to liberate a country ruled with an iron fist? Who will risk repeating the fate of the martyrs?
Yulia Navalnaya take over. Perhaps with the present example of the Belarusian Svietlana Tijanóvskayawho stepped forward after her husband’s imprisonment by the dictator Lukashenko. Or Zhanna Netmsova, daughter of the murdered Boris Nemtsov. Or of Evgenia Kara-Murzawife of the imprisoned Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Putin is counting the days to resolve the March electoral farce and extend his mandate until 2030. Navalnaya will have to decide whether to lead the change from within, like her husband, or from outside, like Tikhanovskaya. With each option you run a different risk, and it won’t be easy. But he is guided by the conviction that Putin’s defeat in Ukraine would open an opportunity for transition, and the confidence that dreams of freedom are stronger than Novichok, bombs and the threat from Siberia.