Kremlin reminds us it fears Alexei Navalny
Tom Rogan
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Another day, yet another trial targeting Russian political opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. Navalny faces trumped-up charges related to his supposed support for extremist movements.
Navalny’s actual crime is the same as it has always been. Namely, that he scares and infuriates the Russian political elite in equal measure. This reality was on ironic display on Monday when the judge presiding over Navalny’s latest trial accepted an absurd prosecution motion to move proceedings to a closed setting. It doesn’t want any close attention to the absurdity of its legal fictions. Underlining the unpleasant brutality of Vladimir Putin’s regime, even Navalny’s parents were not allowed in the courtroom.
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Why is Navalny a target for such persecution?
It’s not just that he has uncovered evidence of endemic corruption by the Kremlin elite. It’s not just that he has proven the links between top figures and secret super-dachas and vast kickbacks. It’s that Navalny has done so with a cheeky humor that undercuts the ludicrous narrative that the Kremlin elite are honorable patriots. In his production of amusing but damning video investigations, Navalny has skillfully tapped into the vein of dark Russian humor that applied toward corruption during the Soviet era. In response to his efforts, Navalny has been subjected to a never-ending train of new prosecutions. The intent is to keep him imprisoned in perpetuity.
At least for the moment, however, Vladimir Putin appears to believe that assassinating Navalny would cause more harm than good.
That wasn’t always the case, of course. Russia’s FSB domestic security service attempted to murder Navalny with a Novichok-variant nerve agent in August 2020. The method of attack and shoddy tradecraft used by those responsible meant that Russia’s culpability in the attack was quickly established. Yet Putin’s real embarrassment came not with his failure to kill Navalny, but rather when Navalny so courageously returned to Russia after treatment in Germany. He did so knowing that he would end up in prison or dead.
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This combination of moral and political courage is a mortal threat to the Kremlin. It shows an undeniable machismo that retains great salience in Russian society. And while Putin generally remains popular, he has been unable to sustain economic growth and the improving living standards that characterized the earlier part of his rule. At the same time, the corruption which lubricates Putin’s power has become increasingly apparent to the Russian people. This has been reflected in a tentative but growing willingness to publicly protest the ruling United Russia party across the vast Russian nation. As the war in Ukraine continues to proceed badly for Russia, Putin’s vulnerability will only increase.
What the Russian leader fears most is an undercurrent of anger that propels new political movements. As a figurehead for the dual narratives that political opposition is both difficult to eliminate and supremely necessary, Navalny poses a major threat.