Alexei Navalny was the most well known opposition leader in Russia, and the most vocal critic of Vladamir Putin. He spearheaded the anti-corruption movement in Russia and was the reason for many young Russians having a political awakening and recognizing all of the atrocities that Putin has committed while being the President of Russia.
On February 16, 2024, Navalny died after taking a walk and feeling unwell according to the Federal Penitentiary Service. His mother was told that he died of “sudden death syndrome,” which is a term used to encapsulate many different kinds of cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest.
The unexpected death of Navalny was a moment of reflection for many Russians. It crushed many Russians’ hope of having a less corrupt and more free Russia. It also reinforced their knowledge of Vladamir Putin having a firm grip of Russia’s entire political system.
In the West, Navalny was widely seen as a crusader fighting for freedom and the elimination of corruption in the Kremlin. A lot of Russians had also seen him in this light, with many attending his rallies while he was running for president of Russia in 2018 before the Russian Elections Commission voted that he was ineligible to run. Before he was barred from running for office, his campaign was able to attract huge crowds of people that were excited to finally see someone brave enough to take on the oligarchs and the Putin regime.
Some people in Russia were wary of Navalny because he had previously held many hyper-nationalist and xenophobic beliefs. For example, in 2008 when Russia invaded Georgia, Navalny expressed his support of the invasion. These beliefs are certainly a blemish on his legacy, but Navalny’s ability to mobilize young Russians to protest the corrupt Putin regime and fight for freedom should not be discounted. He was a beacon of hope for Russians that they may be able to see a democratic Russia within their lifetime.
In the US alone, we have had many leaders that have bad history’s as well. Many of the nations’ founding fathers were slave owners, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt implemented many policies that targeted Japanese-Americans and put them into internment camps solely because of their ethnicity. These are of course horrific facts about some of the nation’s most cherished leaders, but we can still acknowledge the good things that they did for our country as well. The founding fathers laid the groundwork for one of the most robust democracies in the world with incredibly strong institutions for a nation so young. FDR led the U.S. through WWII and got us out of the Great Depression, while also passing some of the greatest pieces of legislation in American history: the Social Security Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a minimum wage and outlawed child labor.
Alexei Navalny was a hero in Russia, despite his complex history. He held some abhorrent beliefs that should certainly be recognized and condemned, but we must not forget that he was also the reason many Russians are getting politically involved and feeling motivated to protest the Putin regime, a regime that has done way more harm to Russia and the rest of the world than Navalny ever did. Putin was clearly scared of Navalny, which is a clear sign that he was making a big impact on Russians’ feelings towards Putin and the rest of their corrupt government.
Navalny’s wife Yulia Navalnaya has stated that she will lead the fight against Putin’s Russia. It is unclear exactly what she means by this, but she has already started to speak out against Putin and accused him of ordering the murder of her husband. There is reason to believe that Putin would’ve done this given that Alexei Navalny was allegedly about to be freed in a prisoner swap, but as of now there is no clear evidence that supports her claim.
At Navalny’s funeral in Moscow, there were thousands of Russians that gathered to mourn him. This is an impressive number since there were fears that people that went to mourn him would be beaten and arrested. This is representative of just how much Navalny impacted Russians, making them feel defiant and hopeful that change will come to their country. Navalny’s long term impact on Russia is yet to be seen, but we can see his impact on Russians today and it’s clear that the tides are shifting against Putin. Hopefully the tides are big enough that we will see change in Russia.
