Navalny’s friends knew he was willing to become a martyr if that’s what it took to stand up to Putin.

Alexei Navalny’s long struggle against President Putin began with a humorous blog and culminated in repeated demonstrations of his willingness to risk his own life. According to the Russian authorities on Friday, he has now died in prison.

Russia’s leading opposition voice has been silenced.

Other dissident figures went into exile or died in mysterious circumstances over the past decade, leaving Navalny as the last national figure with a dedicated following.

Though he had been arrested many times before, Navalny’s defining moment in the eyes of many Russians came after the attempt to assassinate him with Novichok. He recuperated in the sanctuary of a German hospital but chose to defy Putin and return to Russia in January 2021, knowing full well he would end up in prison.

  • Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    In the same way that Biden is preferable to Trump. Biden is far from perfect, has lukewarm political leanings, only advances soft-left policies to better his own election chances and keeps a cop as a vp.

    But Trump is an actual war mongering lunatic wannabe fascist. Sometimes it’s about the lesser evil.

    Yes, you could say there are plenty of people more worth supporting than these two old farts, but none of them are on the ballot are they?

    It’s that situation with Russia. Putin is an actual, proven warmonger who kills his own countrymen to hold on to power. Someone who doesn’t do either of those things and respects the will of the people is a step up, regardless of their politics, because that person can be voted out.

    • ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      A lot of people on the internet think there’s an electable Abraham Lincoln instead of what the reality is

    • CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      You’re only saying that because you know what Putin is like in power, with his racist remarks and Nazi affiliations you don’t even know how worse it could have been with Navalny