Was Navalny’s sacrifice worth it? In February, dissident leader Alexei Navalny died in a Russian prison. He had spent his adult life fighting the Putin regime.
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The man who died for democracy
Was Navalny's sacrifice worth it? In February, dissident leader Alexei Navalny died in a Russian prison. He had spent his adult life fighting the Putin regime.
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On 16 February, Russian campaigner Alexei Navalny died in prison. He was just 47 years old.
Navalny was Vladimir PutinRussia's ruler since 2000. He is a strong opponent of the West.'s most prominent opponent. For over a decade he had exposed corruptionWhen someone abuses their power for personal gain. It often involves bribery. and tried to win election against Putin's regimeA system or way of doing things, especially an authoritarian one. . He was imprisoned as a result. There is evidence he was poisoned.1
Navalny grew up in Obninsk, a small city 100km south-west of Moscow, to a Russian mother and a Ukrainian father.
He was politically active all his adult life. He joined the liberalLiberalism is a school of political thought that stresses individual liberty. Liberals believe that society should not try to impose values or behaviours on individuals but should be tolerant of different lifestyles. A leading exponent of liberal thought was the 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart Mill, the author of the classic work On Liberty. United Democratic Party in 2000 and became its chief of staff. In 2011, he founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
He led protests against Putin's United Russia party. In 2013 he registered to run as mayor of Moscow, where he received 27.3% of the vote.2
Navalny planned to stand for the 2018 presidential election. Before that could happen he was convicted of corruption and barred from running for office.
He was imprisoned and attacked. In 2017 he was sprayed with green dye and lost 80% of his sight in one eye. In 2019 he was imprisoned, then hospitalised with severe damage to his skin and eyes.
While campaigning in 2020, he fell gravely ill. Doctors found traces of NovichokA group of nerve agents, most infamously used in the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in 2018. in his body. Navalny managed to trick an FSBThe Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is a federal executive body responsible for counterintelligence, antiterrorism, and surveillance of the military. agent into admitting to rubbing the poison into his underwear.
In 2021 he was sentenced to two and a half years. His sentence was then increased by nine years, then 19.
In the film Navalny, released in 2022, Navalny says: "If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong." His death as a hero could motivate opposition.
Yet others are unsure. Navalny at one time counted 700,000 supporters.3 But that is a tiny fragment of Russia's 143.8m population, many of whom live far from the big cities. The Navalny movement might just have been a moment.
Was Navalny's sacrifice worth it?
Yes: Navalny was right. That the Putin regime tried to silence him showed they were scared. He was an inspirational example. Future resistance groups can build on his work and succeed where he failed.
No: Putin won re-election this year with 88% of all votes, despite Navalny's death and the war in Ukraine. Navalny sacrificed himself for a dream of Russia that the majority of Russians do not share.
Or... History is written by the victors. If one day Putin's regime collapses and a liberal Russia emerges, he will seem a hero. But if the current government prevails he may be forgotten.
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Keywords
Vladimir Putin - Russia's ruler since 2000. He is a strong opponent of the West.
Corruption - When someone abuses their power for personal gain. It often involves bribery.
Regime - A system or way of doing things, especially an authoritarian one.
Liberal - Liberalism is a school of political thought that stresses individual liberty. Liberals believe that society should not try to impose values or behaviours on individuals but should be tolerant of different lifestyles. A leading exponent of liberal thought was the 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart Mill, the author of the classic work On Liberty.
Novichok - A group of nerve agents, most infamously used in the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in 2018.
FSB - The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is a federal executive body responsible for counterintelligence, antiterrorism, and surveillance of the military.
The man who died for democracy
Never a quitter: According to Russian authorities, Navalny took a short walk at his Siberian penal colony before collapsing and ultimately dying on 16 February this year. Glossary
Vladimir Putin - Russia’s ruler since 2000. He is a strong opponent of the West.
Corruption - When someone abuses their power for personal gain. It often involves bribery.
Regime - A system or way of doing things, especially an authoritarian one.
Liberal - Liberalism is a school of political thought that stresses individual liberty. Liberals believe that society should not try to impose values or behaviours on individuals but should be tolerant of different lifestyles. A leading exponent of liberal thought was the 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart Mill, the author of the classic work On Liberty.
Novichok - A group of nerve agents, most infamously used in the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in 2018.
FSB - The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is a federal executive body responsible for counterintelligence, antiterrorism, and surveillance of the military.