The End of Russia’s Peaceful Opposition

Rolling Stone ^ | Feb 17, 2024 | ANDREW RYVKIN

[MinorityRepublican]

Russia’s leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, who united people in his fight against Vladimir Putin’s regime, died Friday in a remote Arctic prison, where he was serving a decades-long sentence on trumped-up charges. He is survived by his wife, two kids, and the millions of Russians at home and abroad who yearned for a better future. The Kremlin’s propaganda machine, now in overdrive, lists the cause of death as a blood clot, spinning a narrative that Putin — ever-so-popular with the people — didn’t need Navalny to die.

In his 25 years in power, Putin has killed journalists, politicians, oligarchs, warlords, and activists — anyone who dared to speak up and oppose his brutal regime. Murder is Putin’s MO, and time and time again it proved to be an effective means of keeping his grip on power. But Navalny’s sudden death changes the equation for Putin — and for Russia’s future; it symbolizes a transfer of power from those who seek peaceful means to fight the regime to those who believe that the only way to change Russia is by force.

Navalny’s last call to action was when he asked opposition-minded Russians to take part in “a noon against Putin” — a silent protest planned for March 17, the last day of Russia’s three-day presidential election, that would have people flood the country’s polling stations exactly at noon and cast their ballot for any candidate but Putin. By no means a strategy to change the outcome of a predetermined election, this was a way for those opposed to Putin to see that they’re not alone. There’s little doubt that some Russians will come and express their disdain for Putin and his bloody ways, but sadly, a silent protest against a neo-fascist regime, amid its yearslong war of imperial conquest...

[Thunder90]

https://kprf.ru/ (warning, commie propaganda inside)