Opinion: Navalny should be respected by taking a firm stand against Putin

Recently, as brave Russian citizens risked arrest to lay flowers at a makeshift monument honoring recently murdered dissident Alexei Navalny, I experienced a sense of déjà vu from nearly a decade ago. did.

Another common and perceived threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin was that in late February 2015, he was walking with his girlfriend directly beneath St. Basil’s Cathedral on Moscow’s Red Square. Ta. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Boris Nemtsov, 55, was hit by four bullets and died almost instantly.

Mourners across Russia honored Nemtsov’s memory with flowers and photos. I happened to be in Moscow about a month after Nemtsov’s death, so I was grateful to be able to pay my respects on Moskvoretsky Bridge, where he was killed.

For me, Nemtsov’s death was personal. I met Nemtsov in 1993, at the height of Russia’s positive relations with the West after the end of the Cold War, when he was the reformist governor of Nizhny Novgorod, a large industrial city about 160 miles east of Moscow. In , he volunteered as a media advisor in Nemtsov’s office.

Over the next two decades, the charismatic physicist rose to prominence in Russian national politics, helping propel the country toward free-market democracy and becoming deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin. However, after Putin was appointed president in late 1999, Nemtsov became a former KGB official and increasingly critical of the dictatorship, until he was killed like Navalny. The methods may be different, but the purpose is the same. It is to eliminate all opposition to President Putin’s iron fist.

Navalny’s heroic popularity may have been seen as an even bigger threat to Putin. A social media wizard, Navalny unearthed outrageous corruption in the Kremlin and shared it with the world, garnering wide support in the 2013 Moscow mayoral race. Putin has assured Navalny he will never confront him directly, repeatedly arresting him and barring him from voting.

In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent and suffered near-fatal injuries before being rescued by Germany. He returned to Russia to continue his opposition to Putin’s repression, surprising many Western countries. He believed that Russians could not be asked to rebel against the government if they were not willing to do so on Russian soil.

“It is not honest people who frighten the authorities, but people who are not afraid, or more precisely, people who are afraid but overcome their fear,” Navalny said in an early communication from the concentration camp. ” he wrote.

Russia today is a much more dangerous place, both for the Russian people and for the rest of the world. President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine cost the lives of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians. Approximately 1,300 Russians have been prosecuted for innocent opposition, such as simply raising their voices. Since Putin returned to office in 2012, the number of political prisoners has increased 15-fold, with many like Navalny deported to brutal Siberian camps.

I am particularly concerned about another leading Russian human rights activist, Vladimir Kara-Murza. Kara-Murza, a former journalist and Nemtsov confidant whom I met several times while working for U.S. Sen. Mark Begich in Washington, D.C., was the author of my 2017 book on Alaska-Russia relations. I was happy to contribute the cover blurb for Melting the Ice Curtain. ”

After surviving two poisonings, he was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason for opposing the invasion of Ukraine. Russian prisons are filled with people like Kara-Murza.

I used to advocate improving relations with Russia, but I am angry at the situation under Putin’s administration. Here are some modest suggestions to fight back.

Western sanctions, primarily as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, have been effective in limiting Russia’s war effort, but should become even more severe. We must hold federal officials, from President Joe Biden down, to the fire.

Two Alaska members of Congress, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Mary Peltola, are strongly committed to continuing aid to Ukraine. Sen. Dan Sullivan wants a two-way street, voting against U.S. support for Ukraine, including border security, but later voting in favor of military aid to Ukraine and Israel.

• Donate to independent charities like United24 that can provide aid where it is needed most in Ukraine. Follow informed experts like Yale University historian Timothy Snyder.

• Stop communicating with Russia. Fortunately, the dozen or so communities in Alaska that have sister city relationships with Russia are no longer active. Much of the previous cooperation with Russia, such as through the International Arctic Council and scientific exchanges, has been or should be preserved.

President Putin hopes his re-election on March 15-17 will be a sign of enthusiastic support for his rule and the war against Ukraine. We should do everything possible to deny him that.

david ramseur He actively participates in exchanges between Alaska and Russia and is the author of Melting the Ice Curtain.

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