Alexei Navalny likely expected to be arrested upon his return to Russia, making his decision to fly back home an extremely courageous move. But his return isn't likely to advance Russia's opposition, says Juri Rescheto.
Advertisement
Alexei Navalny (center) and his wife, Yulia, arrived back in Moscow on SundayImage: Polina Ivanova/REUTERS
First the good news — good for opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at least: Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin's loudest critic, is back in Russia, fit as a fiddle and ready for action.
One way they intend to keep up the fight is in the upcoming parliamentary election, scheduled for September. Using Navalny's so-called "smart voting" system, they intend to pull as many voters as possible away from the ruling United Russia, eroding support for Putin's allied party as much as possible.
The strategy might even work, as it did in some regional elections last year. But it won't really end up changing Russia's political system or strengthen the opposition. After all, Russia has no real opposition, just a toothless pseudo-opposition that waves through all the Kremlin's decisions unchallenged.
Navalny's return won't change that. And that's the bad news — and not only for Putin's opponents.
Putin's most dangerous adversary
Alexei Navalny is a brand — charismatic, fearless, determined and well-known far beyond the borders of his homeland. More than that: Navalny has become Russia's most important opposition politician, one whom the Kremlin apparently truly fears. That was made quite clear by the government's completely exaggerated reaction to his return.
With dozens of police vehicles, hundreds of security guards and press barred from the area, the arrivals area of Vnukovo airport, where Navalny was originally supposed to land, resembled a fortress on Sunday. The government response was clearly a demonstration of power by the state against its most unbending citizen.
This may sound dramatic, but it only serves to bolster Navalny's image of a fighter. It's clear the authorities no longer see him as an "insignificant blogger" or a "patient in Berlin" — terms often used by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. His boss, Putin, doesn't even deign to mention Navalny by name.
Russia's judiciary has already had several chances to put Navalny behind bars for a long time. But it decided against it — apparently, by order of the Kremlin. To do so would have represented too much of an "honor" for an "insignificant blogger"; it would have given him too much attention. All that has apparently now changed. Navalny has become too well-known, and, ultimately, too dangerous for Putin.
Advertisement
Courageous lone fighter
But Navalny is still courageously fighting alone. There is no party behind him, no crowds of people rallying to his cause.
His videos about corrupt officials have been viewed millions of times. And a few years ago, many — mostly young —supporters heeded his call to take to the streets against the state. But the government response to their protests was violent — thousands were arrested, and some were imprisoned. They've been systematically intimidated ever since.
A few days before Navalny's arrival, a group of activists posted an online appeal for supporters to greet the Kremlin critic at the airport. Soon after, Navalny's people received a visit from the police in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Other opposition activists were also threatened with a prison sentence, should they dare show their faces at the airport. And shortly before Navalny's arrival, police carried out dozens of arrests at the airport. All of this is proof that the Kremlin remains an overpowering opponent.
This article has been adapted from German by Martin Kuebler
A history of political poisonings
Poisoning has been used by intelligence agencies for over a century and the latest alleged victim is Putin critic Alexei Navalny. Toxins and even nerve agents, hidden in food or drink, are often the weapons of choice.
Image: Imago Images/Itar-Tass/S. Fadeichev
Alexei Navalny
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was rushed to hospital in Siberia after being taken ill on a flight to Moscow. His aides allege he was poisoned in revenge for his campaigns against corruption. The 44-year-old ex-lawyer apparently only drank black tea before taking off from Omsk airport, which his team think was laced with a toxin that put him in a coma.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/K. Kudrayavtsev
Pyotr Verzilov
In 2018, Russian-Canadian activist Pyotr Verzilov was reported to be in a critical condition after allegedly being poisoned in Moscow. It happened shortly after he gave a TV interview criticizing Russia's legal system. Verzilov, the unofficial spokesman for the rock group Pussy Riot, was transferred to a hospital in Berlin where doctors said it was "highly probable" that he had been poisoned.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/A. Novoderezhkin
Sergei Skripal
Sergei Skripal, a 66-year-old former Russian spy, was found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the British city of Salisbury after he was exposed to what was later revealed to be the nerve agent Novichok. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation "tragic" but said, "We don't have information about what could be the cause" of the incident.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass
Kim Jong Nam
The estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un was killed on February 13, 2018 at Kuala Lumpur airport after two women allegedly smeared the chemical nerve agent VX on his face. In February, a Malaysian court heard that Kim Jong Nam had been carrying a dozen vials of antidote for the deadly nerve agent VX in his backpack at the time of the poisoning.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/S. Kambayashi
Alexander Litvinenko
Former Russian spy Litvinenko had worked for the Federal Security Service (FSB) before he defected to Britain, where he became a journalist and wrote two books of accusations against the FSB and Putin. He became ill after meeting with two former KGB officers and died on November 23, 2006. A government inquiry found he was killed by radioactive polonium-210 which it alleged the men put in his tea.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Kaptilkin
Viktor Kalashnikov
In November 2010, doctors at Berlin's Charité hospital discovered high levels of mercury had been found in a Russian dissident couple working in Berlin. Kalashnikov, a freelance journalist and former KGB colonel, had 3.7 micrograms of mercury per litre of blood, while his wife had 56 micrograms. A safe level is 1-3 micrograms. Viktor reportedly told German magazine Focus that "Moscow poisoned us."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/RIA Novosti
Viktor Yushchenko
Ukrainian opposition leader Yushchenko became sick in September 2004 and was diagnosed with acute pancreatis caused by a viral infection and chemical substances. The illness resulted in facial disfigurement, with pockmarks, bloating and jaundice. Doctors said the changes to his face were from chloracne, which is a result of dioxin poisoning. Yushchenko claimed government agents poisoned him.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Leodolter
Khaled Meshaal
On September 25, 1997, Israel's intelligence agency attempted to assassinate Hamas leader Meshaal, under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two agents sprayed a poisonous substance into Meshaal's ear as he walked into the Hamas offices in Amman, Jordan. The assassination attempt was unsuccessful and not long afterward the two Israeli agents were captured.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Sazonov
Georgi Markov
In 1978, Bulgarian dissident Markov was waiting at a bus stop after a shift at the BBC when he felt a sharp jab in his thigh. He turned to see a man picking up an umbrella. A small bump appeared where he felt the jab and four days later he died. An autopsy found he'd been killed by a small pellet containing a 0.2-milligram dose of ricin. Many believe the poisoned dart was fired from the umbrella.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/epa/Stringer
Grigori Rasputin
On December 30, 1916, mystic and spiritual healer Rasputin arrived at Yusupov Palace in St Petersburg at the invitation Prince Felix Yusupov. There, Prince Yusupov offered Rasputin cakes laced with potassium cyanide but he just kept eating them. Yusupov then gave him wine in a cyanide-laced wine glasses, but still Rasputin continued to drink. With the poison failing, Rasputin was shot and killed.
