The Legacy and Mission of Alexei Navalny
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Following reports that Russian opposition party leader Alexei Navalny died Friday, voices across the spectrum are reflecting on what his death means for Russia.
From the Left: A writer in the Daily Beast (Left bias) praised Navalny for returning to Russia in 2021 after he was poisoned by the Russian security services, writing that he “truly believed in Russia, in the possibility of a democratic nation rising from the ruins of the Soviet empire.” The writer concluded, “Today, a Russia free of Putin and Putinism seems almost impossible to imagine. But for the sake of Navalny, we must imagine it.”
From the Center: Anne Applebaum (Center bias) explained the power of Navalny, describing how he “seemed real to other ordinary Russians, and he told stories that had relevance to their lives.” Applebaum determined this appeal led the Russian government to kill Navalny, writing, “Even behind bars Navalny was a real threat to Putin, because he was living proof that courage is possible, that truth exists, that Russia could be a different kind of country.”
From the Right: The National Review Editorial Board (Right bias) called Navalny “one of the bravest men of our time,” writing that he “understood the power of humor, and found creative ways to lampoon Russia’s ruling party as a clique of thieves and crooks.” The board concluded, “You often hear that Vladimir Putin, no matter what, loves his country. Yet he robs it blind. He immiserates it. True love of country was shown by Navalny.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
The Brave and Great Alexei NavalnyAlexei Navalny was one of the bravest men of our time. He stood up to one of the most evil men of our time: Vladimir Putin. Navalny has now died, a political prisoner, at 47.
He was widely known as “the leader of the opposition” — the Russian political opposition to Putin. Life expectancy is not terribly long in that job. The previous leader, Boris Nemtsov, was gunned down within sight of the Kremlin in 2015. Navalny and his allies have been particularly good at exposing Putin’s corruption. They have...
From the Center
Why Russia Killed NavalnyAlexei Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021. Right before he boarded the plane, he posted a film titled “Putin’s Palace: The Story of the World’s Largest Bribe” on YouTube. The video, nearly two hours long, was an extraordinary feat of investigative reporting. Using secret plans, drone footage, 3-D visualizations, and the testimony of construction workers, Navalny’s video told the story of a hideous $1.3 billion Black Sea villa containing every luxury that a dictator could imagine: a hookah bar, a hockey rink, a helipad, a vineyard, an oyster farm,...
From the Left
Alexei Navalny’s Death Is the Passing of More than Just One ManHe didn’t have to go. In August 2020, Russian dissident Alexei Navalny had been poisoned, probably at the direction of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who saw in Navalny one of the vanishingly few legitimate threats to his reign.
Navalny went to Germany to recuperate. While there, he managed to confirm that the poisoning had been carried out by Russian security services by calling one of his would-be executioners and pretending to be a fellow Kremlin goon. Mother Russia wanted one of her own sons dead.
So why return? “It was...
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