The “head” of the Russian resistance has been hijacked

The most famous opposition leader in Russia is dead. Most of the alternatives have been forced out of the country – and others are in penal colonies.

Vladimir Putin seems, at least for now, to have eliminated all threats to his own power.

– You must not give up, said Alexei Navalny in a biographical documentary released the year before last year, where he was asked to leave a message to posterity in the event of his death.

– If they decide to kill me, it means that we are very strong, and we need to use that strength.

But Russia’s independent opposition has long had difficulty organizing and reaching out.

Several in penal colonies

Many leading critics of the regime – such as Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin – are in penal colonies in Russia, convicted for having voiced criticism.

Many others have fled the country.

– Alexei Navalny was a very smart and charismatic leader. He had a talent for igniting people, for convincing them of the need for change, Mikhail Khodorkovsky told AP, emphasizing that his death is a very difficult loss for the Russian opposition.

The former oil magnate Khodorkovsky has himself been imprisoned in Russia. He lives in London and has long been a leading figure in Russian exile opposition. He has previously regretted that Navalny’s movement FBK has not wanted to cooperate more deeply with his organization Dossier Center.

Silent election protest?

On the other side of power in the Kremlin is a patriotic camp, with radical nationalists who have criticized above all the military leadership. There, the former commander Igor “Strelkov” Girkin came forward, and then was also sentenced to prison.

Ahead of the presidential election in less than a month, the opposition is debating, as many times before, whether it is best to boycott the rigged process or to try to exert some influence.

Alexei Navalny’s camp has advocated the latter strategy, urging voters to back war critic Boris Nadezhdin’s presidential bid before he was stopped.

After Navalny’s death, opposition groups are calling on voters to gather at polling stations at the same time, and write his name on the ballot, in silent protest.

Lifts the family

American political science professor Francis Fukuyama, who sits on FBK’s advisory board, sees it as if Vladimir Putin has cut off the opposition’s “head” and that the remaining movement is too scattered.

– I don’t think there is anyone who can even come close to filling his (Navalny’s) shoes, says Fukuyama to the Financial Times.

Widow Yulia Navalnaya wants to continue her husband’s work. Fukuyama also mentions the couple’s 23-year-old daughter Daria as a possible successor.

FACTS Imprisoned regime critics

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