Alexei Navalny, the most formidable critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his corrupt circle, who survived poisoning and endured years of brutal persecution, has died in the Arctic penal colony Polar Wolf. . The federal prison in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region claimed that Navalny “felt unwell” and “almost lost consciousness immediately” during the walk. Prison officials said no resuscitation attempts were made.
Navalny has long been a thorn in Putin’s side, and has been relentlessly vilified by his Kremlin cheerleaders. Even after his death, Russian propagandists could not pretend to be dignified or human. Margarita Simonyan, head of RT, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that so-called “victims” of Navalny’s corruption investigation continue to call her, wishing him peace. Hypocritically, she claimed that just because she observes Armenian Lent, she cannot join in its wishes.
Alexei Navalny sacrificed himself to show Russia that Putin is a monster
In 2021, Mr. Simonyan described Mr. Navalny as a “traitor of the motherland” and said he deserved death like other traitors. Mr. Simonyan referred to the Skripals and Mr. Litvinenko and insisted that any measures were acceptable against those he deemed “traitors.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, “Russia needs to answer all serious questions about the circumstances of his death,” but Simonyan said, “Russia does not owe anyone anything. Start from there. Yes,” he replied.
Since “death of natural causes” has many different meanings in Russia, especially when it comes to opposition leaders and journalists, Simonyan quickly began to stir up rumors of wrongdoing – not by Putin, but by his enemies. be. she wrote: “Everyone had forgotten about him for a long time. There was no point in killing him. Especially before the elections, it would be in the interests of diametrically opposed forces.”
Simonyan shared a post from the Telegram channel “BP Online” and wrote: “This is retaliation for the interview. Thankfully, that was not the case. [Tucker] Carlson. ” President Putin has expressed displeasure with the development of the interview with Karlsson, who says the former Fox News host is a darling of Russian state media and is the only American who does not want him killed. It is highly praised.
This feeling is clearly mutual. On Monday, Carlson, who was attending the World Government Summit in Dubai, was asked by Egyptian journalist Emad El-Din Adib why he did not press President Putin about freedom of speech in Russia. He was then asked why he didn’t talk about Navalny, the assassination, or the incident. Restrictions on opposition will be imposed in the next election. ”
Carlson replied coldly: “Every leader kills people. Some kill more people than others. Leadership requires killing.” He said this kind of domestic policy is common everywhere. and openly supported the removal of inconvenient opposition figures and journalists.
Other Russian propagandists have also pushed the idea that Navalny’s death will somehow benefit the West and hinted that foul play was involved. “Mr. Navalny passed away at a very convenient time for the puppet masters of the West,” author Nikolai Starikov wrote on Telegram, undermining the PR effect of Mr. Carlson’s interview and suggesting that the U.S. Congress should ask Ukraine to It was argued that this may have been done to encourage approval of aid. . Starikov insisted that Navalny’s wife, Yulia, will also attend the Munich Security Conference on the same day, but that this was “part of the plan.”
The death of Alexei Navalny is the death of more than one person.
Vulgarly, Mr. Starikov claimed that Mr. Navalny’s widow was “barely suppressing a smile.” His defiant posts were boosted by Vladimir Solovyov, the notorious state TV host who for years has slandered Navalny as a “traitor” and his supporters as “Satanists” and said he deserves the death penalty. It was done. Now, in light of the untimely death of Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, Russian propagandists are simultaneously reveling in it and acting as if someone other than Putin is to blame.
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