Russia Navalny review – staggering portrait of Putin’s extraordinary arch-enemy -- by Peter Bradshaw

It’s impossible to watch this absorbing documentary about anti-Putin dissident Alexei Navalny without a terrible suspicion entering your mind: did Putin order his grotesque Ukraine invasion because of Navalny? Was it a diversionary tactic against the huge, growing wave of protest spearheaded by Navalny who, in 2021, had defiantly returned to Russia from German exile and whose instant arrest and imprisonment merely fanned the flames of his international celebrity? Putin was no doubt deeply enraged by this social-media megastar who had not only survived a Novichok assassination attempt but then humiliated the Kremlin by unmasking his malign and cack-handed would-be killers online.

Navalny is an extraordinary figure in many ways: approachable, telegenic and easygoing. Or mostly easygoing, anyway: he can still sound irritable and defensive when questioned about his appearances on the same stage as extreme Russian nationalists about 10 years earlier, and perhaps this film could have looked harder at the facts of Navalny’s early life. But the real eye-opener is the interview with the Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grosev of the website Bellingcat who managed such breathtaking feats of detection on Navalny’s behalf in finding the FSB assailants. Grosev is all about data: by getting hold of passenger manifests, travel details or call records – and everything digital leaves a trace – he can put together an objective picture, even retrieving the culprits’ passport photos.

It is quite staggering. And Navalny’s story has a particular resonance in Britain: he survived, but Dawn Sturgess did not – the blameless British national was fatally poisoned with Novichok on British soil in 2018, as the chaotic byproduct of a bungling attempt by Russian agents to kill former agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. For so many reasons, Navalny’s story concerns us all.

Read more at: Navalny review – staggering portrait of Putin’s extraordinary arch-enemy | Film | The Guardian

Russia: Who is Alexei Navalny? The leader behind Russia’s anti-Putin protests, explained. -

The greatest challenger to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule is a man whose name the dictator won’t say and whom he has tried to kill: Alexei Navalny.

Having defiantly returned to Russia after surviving a brazen assassination attempt only to be immediately detained and thrown in jail upon arrival, the opposition leader and anti-corruption crusader has rallied tens of thousands of supporters to his cause like never before — a real sign of trouble for Putin’s hold on power.

Alexei Navalny has spent over a decade trying to overthrow Putin. Through slick videos, public mobilization, and even an ill-fated presidential run against the autocrat, Navalny has aimed to expose Kremlin corruption and malfeasance.

Read more at: Who is Alexei Navalny? The leader behind Russia’s anti-Putin protests, explained. - Vox

Russia: Kremlin targets workers with Moscow's iconic Metro who support jailed opposition leader

he Komsomolskaya Metro station is one of the most ornate in Moscow's transit system, which is one of the world's busiest, carrying almost seven million passengers a day. Dozens and perhaps hundreds of employees have been fired or told to resign after supporting a jailed opposition leader. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

The Putin government's expanding crackdown on political dissent has entangled one of Russia's most iconic and respected institutions: Moscow's famously ornate Metro system.

Over the last week, dozens — perhaps even hundreds — of train drivers, mechanics, ticket agents and other public transit workers have been hauled before management and told to either resign or be fired.

The reason appears to be that either they or a family member signed onto a website calling for President Vladimir Putin's arch-foe, Alexei Navalny, to be freed from prison.

Read more at: Kremlin targets workers with Moscow's iconic Metro who support jailed opposition leader | CBC News

Russia: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to spend years in prison by a Vladimir Putin Russian Government "kangaroo court"

A Russian court has sentenced Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to 3 1/2 years in a penal colony for violating probation terms. Navalny has slammed the trial as a bid to "intimidate" the public.

Read more: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to spend years in prison | News | DW | 02.02.2021

Russia - Political Turmoil: Alexei Navalny: More than 5,000 arrested across Russia as tens of thousands protest

Russian police arrested more than 5,000 people on Sunday at protests to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Protests took place in multiple Russian cities, from Siberia and Russia's far east to St Petersburg and the capital, Moscow, in the biggest show of public dissent in Russia in years.

Read more at: Alexei Navalny: More than 5,000 arrested across Russia as tens of thousands protest | Euronews

Russia: Russians just revealed Vladimir Putin’s weakness - Opinion - by the WP Editorial Board

Vladimir Putin is frequently portrayed as one of the architects of a 21st-century model of autocracy that is gaining strength globally, even as democracy stumbles in the United States and elsewhere. Events in Russia on Saturday belied that narrative. Tens of thousands of people in more than 100 cities defied freezing temperatures and riot police to join raucous protests against the Putin regime. While the Russian dictator isn’t likely to be toppled soon, the unrest revealed the rotten foundations of his rule — and the opportunity that offers to democratic adversaries.

Mr. Putin’s weakness was revealed thanks to the ingenuity and stunning courage of Alexei Navalny, who survived a poisoning attack by Mr. Putin’s agents in August and then returned to the country just over a week ago to take on his nemesis frontally. As expected, the 44-year-old activist was swiftly arrested. But Mr. Putin surely did not anticipate what came next: Mr. Navalny’s call for demonstrations, coupled with his release of an extraordinary, 112-minute video documenting Mr. Putin’s corruption, including the Versailles-scale palace he has secretly constructed on the shores of the Black Sea. By Monday, the video had accumulated more than 89 million views on YouTube — and thousands of Russians who had never before protested against Mr. Putin had taken to the streets.

Read more at: Opinion | Russians just revealed Vladimir Putin’s weakness - The Washington Post

The Netherlands: Russians in NL protest against Navalny arrest in The Hague and Amsterdam

Dozens of Russian nationals and other supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny took part in demonstrations in calling for his release from jail in Amsterdam and The Hague on Saturday. Carrying placards in Russian and English calling for freedom for Navalny and all political prisoners,

They gathered outside the Russian embassy in The Hague and on Museumplein in Amsterdam.

Read more at: Russians in NL protest against Navalny arrest in The Hague and Amsterdam - DutchNews.nl

The Poisoning of Alexei Navalny: Russia summons German envoy over poisoning allegations

On Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry called on Germany's ambassador to Moscow to attend talks regarding accusations that Alexei Navalny had been poisoned.

Officials in Berlin say they have evidence to support their claim. Russian authorities say Germany's government is "bluffing."

The opposition figure Navalny was airlifted to Berlin last month after he fell ill on a domestic flight in Russia. Medics in Berlin say evidence indicates that he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, a statement supported by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

Read more at: 
Alexei Navalny: Russia summons German envoy over poisoning allegations | News | DW | 08.09.2020

German-Russian Relations: Angela Merkel says Novichok poisoning of Russia’s Navalny was attempted murder

Angela Merkel said there was "shocking information" that showed "beyond a doubt" that the poisoning of Alexei Navalny was "an attempted murder with nerve agent" after a toxicology test in Germany showed that the opposition leader had been targeted with Novichok.

Merkel said Navalny was "the victim of a crime intended to silence him." She said the gravity of that fact made it important for her to "take a clear stance

Read  more at :
Angela Merkel says Novichok poisoning of Russia’s Navalny was attempted murder | News | DW | 02.09.2020

Russian Presidential election: Vladimir Putin wins by big margin

Vladimir Putin will lead Russia for another six years, after securing an expected victory in Sunday's presidential election.

With almost all the ballots counted, he had received more than 76% of the vote, the central election commission said.

The main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race.

Addressing a rally in Moscow after the early results were declared, Mr Putin said voters had "recognised the achievements of the last few years".

Speaking to reporters, he laughed off a question about running again in another six years.

"What you are saying is a bit funny. Do you think that I will stay here until I'm 100 years old? No!" he said.

Read more: Russia election: Vladimir Putin wins by big margin - BBC News

Russia protests dictatorial rule: Opposition leader Navalny and hundreds others arrested

Can Anti-Putin Protests in Russia topple the "strong man" ?

Russia's main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been arrested at an anti-corruption protest he organised in the capital, Moscow.

Thousands of people joined rallies nationwide, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev over corruption allegations.

At least 500 other protesters were detained in the capital and across the country.
Most of the marches were illegal, organised without official permission.

TV pictures showed demonstrators chanting "Down with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin!", "Russia without Putin!" and "Putin is a thief!".

Alexei Navalny: Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny has long been the most prominent face of Russian opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

And last year he announced his intention to run for president in 2018, saying it was important to have a "clash of ideas" and a real choice.

But he may be forced to abort his plan after his conviction by a Russian court of embezzlement, which would bar him from any candidacy.

He denies the accusations, and says his legal troubles are Kremlin reprisals for his fierce criticism. 

Another issue which must be seen as extremely troubling by opposition forces in Russia and freedom of speech activists around the world are President Vladimir Putin's plans to create a major international news agency called Rossiya Segodnya, or Russia Today, is being seen as a significant move in Moscow's strategy to influence world opinion. But it has also raised concerns about further curbs on media freedom in Russia itself.

The new agency is to be headed by Dmitry Kiselev, one of Russian TV's most notorious anchors, known for his extreme anti-Western and homophobic views.

Mr Putin's decree liquidating state-owned news agency RIA Novosti and the Kremlin's international radio station, Voice of Russia, and replacing them with Russia Today came like a bolt from the blue.

Both RIA Novosti and Voice of Russia have been stalwarts of the media scene for several decades. They were founded way back in the Soviet past, in 1941 and 1929, respectively.

RIA Novosti has been a particularly valued outlet which, although state-owned, has reflected a diversity of opinion in some of its output. Its court reporting service RAPSI also recently won an award for, among other things, its live transmissions of the trial of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Pro-Kremlin commentator Sergey Markov wrote on Facebook that the agency's demise may be linked to its coverage of anti-Putin protests in 2012 and the apparent sympathy of some of its journalists for the opposition.

Rossiya Segodnya, or Russia Today seems likely, therefore, that it will complement the work of the state-funded foreign-language TV station, RT, which when it was launched in 2005 was also known as Russia Today.

The new agency will be a "huge machine for propaganda in the West", tweeted liberal website editor Roman Fedoseyev.

The most controversial aspect of Russia Today's launch was the appointment of Mr Kiselev as its director-general.

Known back in the 1990s as one of the faces of "independent journalism", Mr Kiselev has recently become notorious for his extreme and sometimes bizarre diatribes in his role as a top anchor on official channel Rossiya 1.

He has likened Kremlin opponents at home and abroad to the Nazis, used a Swedish children's TV show about toilet training to exemplify "Western values", and repeatedly demonised homosexuals.

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