According to the researcher, the murder of opposition leader Navalny is a message that all means are used to keep power.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin will give his policy speech today, in which he guides Russia.
According to experts’ preliminary expectations, no changes are expected in Putin’s line, and at the same time in Russia: Russia is moving towards betterment and victory over Ukraine.
According to the experts interviewed by Ylen Aamu, Putin’s line has led to an increasingly wide rift between Putin’s Kremlin and the Russians. However, this is not visible when, under Putin’s command, gravel voices and political opposition have practically been suppressed.
– In the speech, we want to stick to the fact that Russia is moving in a better direction. However, all the indicators show everything else, says the assistant professor Katri Pynnöniemi from the University of Helsinki and the National Defense University.
According to Pynnönen, the difference in speeches and the development of Russian society has been constantly growing. According to him, Putin needs to emphasize publicly that Russia is strong. It is also about the publicity of the presidential elections to be held in March.
– Russia sticks to a very confident line. Surrounded by hostile states, Russia will win, predicts a leading researcher Sinikukka Saari Putin’s message from the Foreign Policy Institute.
There is no opposition in Russia
According to Pynnönen, due to the upcoming elections and the war, votes against Putin’s line have been made completely impossible. According to Pynnönen, there is practically no opposition in Russia anymore, but the country is a centrally-led monopoly. Friday’s opposition leader To Alexei Navalny According to him, however, the funeral has a symbolic meaning for the opposition.
According to Saari, Navalny’s murder is a message from those in power to the citizens during the elections that no alternative will be tolerated.
– The murder is a reminder of the new social contract, which is increasingly totalitarian. Citizens have even less space to move around.
Despite the sovereignty and the predictability of the result, the elections are held because, according to Pynnönen, a sovereign also needs public ritual approval.
According to Pynnönen, the situation can become more permanent and go back decades if Russia is not held accountable for its actions in Ukraine.