As of: February 16, 2024, 5:12 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Demonstrators demanded the release of opposition politician Alexei Navalny on the 1,000th day of his imprisonment.
On February 16, 2024, Russian media reported his death in the prison camp.
© IMAGO/snapshot-photography/KMKrause
He died for his courage: According to Russian information, opposition politician Alexei Navalny is dead. According to experts, this speaks volumes about Vladimir Putin.
Moscow - The Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was apparently not supposed to leave prison alive: On February 16, 2024, Russian media reported his death, citing prison supervision.
According to experts, the fact that the prominent Kremlin critic died so shortly before the elections also allows conclusions to be drawn about the constitution of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Death of Navalny shortly before the elections: Putin “put down everyone who denounces incompetence”
There was no dissident like Navalny in modern times, said US analyst David Sanger in an interview with US broadcaster CNN on Tuesday.
The opposition member had a great “charismatic effect”, many followers and an enormous gift for communication – even from prison.
There had already been an attempted murder on him in 2020.
The Russian had recovered from the poison attack in Germany, but consciously decided to return to his homeland.
Knowing full well that this would mean prison or death for him.
The fact that the opposition activist voluntarily went back to Russia seemed almost “suicidal” to observers, according to US analyst Sager.
But Navalny was convinced that he could lead the movement from prison.
His death also says something about the Russian president today and is part of the list of deaths.
For example, former Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is said to have died in a plane crash a few months after his military uprising.
“Putin is entering the elections having crushed those who have publicly denounced the incompetence and evil character of Russia’s leadership,” the US analyst said.
US Secretary of State Blinken sees Navalny's death as a sign of the weakness of the Russian system
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also sees Navalny's death as a sign of Putin's weakness.
“His death in a Russian prison, the fixation on him and the fear of him only underscore the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin built,” Blinken said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“Russia is responsible,” the US politician continued.
Other Kremlin critics and voices from the West saw it similarly: Putin murdered Navalny “slowly and publicly in prison,” explained Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov.
“Like no other, Alexei Navalny was a symbol of a free and democratic Russia.
That’s exactly why he had to die,” said Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens).
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Collapse in the prison camp: What is known about Navalny's death
According to prison authorities, the icon of the Russian resistance died on Friday in a penal colony in the Russian polar region.
The reasons for Navalny's death were being investigated, it was initially said from Moscow.
Russian prison authorities had said that the opposition politician “felt unwell after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness” in the prison camp.
It was then impossible to revive him.
The state media
RT
reported a “blood clot” as the cause of death.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no further information about the cause of death and that “doctors should determine it.”
Vladimir Putin's victory in the March elections is considered certain.
Real opposition politicians such as Boris Nadezhdin are not allowed to run anyway.