The Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny is noted for a brave anti-corruption campaign of Russian officials, high level misconduct and a fear for the President Vladimir Putin. He is one of founders of a movement "The People" a fight for democracy rights for the Russians. He was immediately arrested for previous detention after his return from Germany where he had stayed for treatment. Navalny’s innumerable followers and supporters have surprised Putin and his position by the power show and demonstrations. This has gained close attention of US and European leaders for his release. Resistance, repeated suspended sentences, house arrests, fraud embezzlements, nerve agent torture in 2017, poisoning in 2019 and assassination attempt in 2020 have not mitigated his political stature. His "smart voting" punch has posed a real threat in Russian Electoral sections.
Navalny was chased even in Germany. Putin admitted that Navalny was under surveillance. German Chancellor Merkel, French President Macron supported Navalny and EU has surfaced its reaction over Kremlin’s actions. Millions of followers and subscribers has made him an inspiring figure in Europe and Russia. His campaign and protest were blacked in a tight security protocols of Russian agencies but his social media channels successfully conveyed his messages and a long video in which he unearthed Putin’s corruption. In video named Putin’s Palace, He says,
We came up this investigation when I was in intensive care, but we immediately agreed that we would release it when I returned home, to Russia, to Moscow, because we do not want the main character of this film to think that we are afraid of him and that I will tell about his worst secret while abroad.
In 2018, Russian government barred him to run Presidential Elections. But his nation –wide protest has connected and gathered supporters once again in recent times. This has alarmed Russian government to a high level. Harsh law enforcement agencies arrested and tortured thousands of protesters. Police tactics failed and it could not weaken the spirit of protest and support for Navalny. The demonstration spread to 100 plus cities despite unfavourable conditions and cold weather. Suppressing the demonstrators, Moscow had to receive much criticism and an international urge to release already arrested political prisoners.
The Russian past is replete with poisoning and killing of many high profile Russian officers and human rights activists. Some of them survived attempts of assassination. Others were killed while challenging Putin’s authorities. These attempts failed to suppress the voice of the opposition leaders. Among other opposition leaders, Navalny is active, smart and sharp minded. He has made the best use of social media platforms and bypassed Kremlin’s black outs. He is the only leader who controls nationwide network which can be mobilized for upcoming elections within no time.
No doubt Navalny is on the big screen of viewers in Russia but he has never held any public office. Once he had to be expelled from a former political party due to his nationalist activities. Since then he has been performing better than before. He is currently considered a threat cannot be ignored and a genuine challenger to the president.
The ongoing situation in Russia reflexes the inner weaknesses in Russian ruling system. It also exposes the failures of the system which are defeated before the freedom of thoughts and speech. The Russian government can call this west propaganda very easily as they blame Navalny a CIA agent but this is high time to take effective measures. The country’s political image has clearly been divided into three portions: first Putin’s supporters who want to see Putin as president two more times; second are critics of Putin the biggest example is Alexei Navalny and third division pays no head to both aforementioned. They refrain from politics or stay away from politics. 2017 saw the largest scale anti-government protests triggered by Navalny. Russian does not have good record of open, free and fair elections. The upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in September 2021 can dawn the aftershocks of Navalny’s recent detention.
