Navalny joins list of dead Putin critics as Kremlin stamps out Russia's opposition
The death of Alexei Navalny deals a severe blow to Russia’s opposition, which President Vladimir Putin has ruthlessly silenced. Here are some of the Kremlin critics who have died, been jailed or exiled.
The death of Alexei Navalny deals a severe blow to Russia’s opposition, which President Vladimir Putin has ruthlessly silenced.
The circumstances surrounding the death of the outspoken critic while in jail remain unclear, but blame will undoubtedly center on the Kremlin, which has a long history of eliminating its adversaries.
The death of the 47-year-old leaves a gaping hole in the opposition movement, with its remaining leaders either in prison or in exile as a result of a crackdown not seen since the Soviet era.
Over the years, Navalny was poisoned, then jailed and has now died. He is just the latest high-profile example of the Kremlin’s approach.
“The question was really how long he would survive, rather than whether he would be allowed to live,” said Keir Giles, senior consulting fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.
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