Russian Protestor and Putin Rival Alexei Navalny Dies in Prison
Jose Nino
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According to a report by Reuters, Navalny fell unconscious and died after going on a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony where he was serving a multi-decade sentence, per Russian authorities.
In the West, Navalny was hyped up as Vladimir Putin’s greatest challenger by self-styled geopolitical experts in the Collective West.
Russia’s presidential election will be taking place next month, with Putin obviously seen as the favorite to win owing to the combination of a managed democratic system and popularity he has built over the years.
If Putin wins, he will stay in power until 20230 at the very least. Naturally, United States President Joe Biden criticized the Russian government over Navalny’s death. Biden blamed it on “something that Putin and his thugs did.”
Navalny became a relatively popular figure over a decade ago by allegedly exposing rampant corruption in Putin-era Russia. The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District released a statement highlighting that Navalny was not feeling well after going on a walk at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, Russia.
He immediately lost consciousness and died right afterwards, according to the penitentiary system’s report, adding that resuscitation attempts failed.
Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, stated that there was “almost no hope” that he was still alive.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, said at the Munich Security Conference she was not sure her husband was dead due to how “Putin and his government… lie incessantly”.
“But if this is true, I want Putin, his entire entourage, Putin’s friends, his government to know that they will bear responsibility for what they did to our country, to my family, to my husband,” she remarked.
Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov observed that the reaction of leaders in the Collective West to Navalny’ death was unacceptable and “absolutely rabid”.
“We don’t know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” Biden declared after the news of Navalny’s death broke out.
“Russian authorities are going to tell their own story,” Biden remarked. “But make no mistake. Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
Navalny was serving multiple sentences that would have kept him locked up past the age of 70.
Navalny voluntarily returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was being allegedly treated for an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent, per Western laboratory tests.
At the time, Navalny declared that he was poisoned in Siberia in August 2020. The Russian government denied allegations of attempting to kill Navalny and declared there was allegedly no evidence that a nerve agent was used to poison him.
The Russian government has often portrayed Navalny as an extremist subversive who functioned as a puppet of the CIA and other intelligence agencies in the Collective West. Russian authorities believe that Navalny’s campaigns are designed to foment unrest and eventually turn Russia into a puppet state of the West should his regime change ventures be successful.
It’s anyone’s guess who was responsible for Navalny’s death. Nevertheless, the US should stay out of this affair, which is a Russian internal matter.
The sad thing is that neoconservative and neoliberal interventionists in DC will exploit Navalny’s death to clamor for more military aid to be sent to Ukraine and for greater intervention in general against Russia. The US would be wise to ignore such fantastic calls for greater escalation against Russia.
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