One has to take into the account that, be it due to successful propaganda or whatever, Putin is more popular than ever; there is no “revolution” right now.
I recall Joe Biden saying, “This man cannot remain in power”. It’s been said by many others many times and doesn’t automatically cause war (or congress to declare war). Yet at some point a nuclear power has to be taken on as a foe by some country.
Yet what pisses me off right now is how Putin never referred to Navalny by name, and instead called him “этот персонаж” - etot personage - which directly translated means “that character” yet it means a bit worse to call someone that in Russian. Putin speaks like five languages and is a master of nuance. He chose his words carefully yet the New York Times will just repeat “that character” or in another phrasing “that certain gentleman”.
I would like to see the Russian people write Aleksei Navalny’s initials on every square inch of public space. It will strike fear in Putin.
The Kremlin is keeping his body for a couple of weeks to run some tests (or likely to destroy evidence).
This to me is the real mystery. Why the charade of keeping Navalny alive for any amount of time, why wasn’t he just dumped out of a helicopter shortly after re-entering Russia in a “failed escape bid?” Putin certainly has the power to kill anyone if he chooses, and the slave-mentality Russian people aren’t likely to rise up in protest.
I don’t know the answer but my gut tells me that if a dictator like Putin knows that challenges are inevitable, then it’s better to have a controlled opposition figure. Let angry people channel their dissatisfaction & anger toward following a leader that you yourself control, and can end if he becomes a real threat.
So I guess Putin and Navalny were playing sort of a poker game with Putin holding most of the cards (including Navalny himself), but Navalny holding a longshot wildcard that he might be next if anything happened to Putin. I don’t know, that’s just my best guess.
Also, count me among people who see Navalny as no great loss. He was extremely bigoted and xenophobic. Sure, he made noise about “reform” but there’s no reason to believe that was anything but him saying what Putin’s critics wanted to hear, until he himself gained power and rolled back all meaningful reform exactly as Putin did. There are no Russian “reformers” coming to the rescue.
We have no idea how popular he is or not thanks to how dissidence is suppressed; for that matter, Putin himself doesn’t know. All he or we can do is guess how many people are lying or remaining silent out of fear.
True. He was an asshole, but a brave asshole.
His wife has had her twitter account suspended. People are pissed at Elon Musk.
She had just created the account yesterday, I think.
I don’t see this discussed in the traditional media, but some media are saying he was poisoned:
Maybe, but what is even harder is being a Russian politician who is bucking the system. In many cases, “harder” ends up as being “dead”.
In a video released Wednesday, Yulia Navalnaya said that biological samples from Navalny’s body had been taken out of Russia and tested at two laboratories abroad.
She said that both laboratories concluded that Navalny had been poisoned, but had not released their findings due to “political considerations.”
This seems strange: why would laboratories outside Russia be comcerned about political considerations?
Were they German and Swedish testing sites like the first time he was tested for neurotoxins? It’s hard to tell from the linked article.