Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Magnitsky, Nemtsov, Navalny are just some of the most famous names in the long list of critics killed by Putin.
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This is how Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba commented on the death of Alexei Navalny in Russian penal servitude.
After each murder there was a wave of indignation, but in the end he got away with it, and world leaders again crushed his hand. This prompted him to continue killing people,” said Minister Kuleba.
Today, some people continue to call for Putin to be heard or to come to an agreement with him. It’s time to put an end to naivety. Before any meaningful engagement with Moscow can begin, Russia must be defeated in Ukraine, and Putin must finally learn a lesson, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister added.
Most politicians and observers in the world called Navalny’s death a political murder.
I don’t want to hear any condolences. We saw our son in the colony on February 12 and were on a date. “He was alive, healthy, cheerful,” said Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of the deceased Russian oppositionist.
On February 16, the world media began reporting Navalny’s death.
Sky News interrupted its broadcast to report the death: “Extraordinary news is coming. Convicted Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny died in prison. He is reported to have died in prison. The agencies write that he was in prison for years, and now he has died.”
The first news about this is published by the BBC, Reuters, AFP, Bloomberg and other major media outlets.
Today there will be protests in many countries. They are joined by Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Armenia, Great Britain, France, Serbia, Norway, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria.
In Russia, in some cities, people began to bring flowers to the monuments of victims of political repression.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel released a statement following Navalny’s death: “I was extremely devastated to learn of the death of Alexei Navalny. He became a victim of repressive violence. It is appalling that the courageous, fearless and dedicated voice of the country was suppressed by horrific methods.”
The Kremlin immediately reacted to Navalny’s death. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that doctors should find out the cause of the politician’s death.
Reactions in Ukraine
Former Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin believes that Navalny’s death is a black swan for Putin. For many reasons, but two are the most important.
Firstly, Putin’s election received another dose of moral and political delegitimation. All his hopes of quickly, or at least not very quickly, getting a handshake from at least someone in the West also suffered a furious blow.
And secondly, and this is even more important, a new leader of protest against the regime will very soon appear in Russia. Or the Russian clans are blinding him – perhaps both. Putin’s plans to overload the political configuration of the regime after the elections will now also undergo fundamental changes. And of course it’s interesting, what is Girkin thinking now, also in a Russian prison? – Klimkin wrote in Telegram.
Journalist Bogdan Butkevich believes that by killing Navalny, he sends a signal of his fear, that he is so afraid of competition that he kills the long-prisoned Navalny, who poses no threat to him.
And the paths also send a signal to the elites – no agreements other than personal loyalty will work anymore. There is only his will – to punish to death if he sees fit. A complete remake of the late Stalin era with its constant purge of everyone, which encourages the elite to think. And he will hasten the moment of his death in a puddle of his own urine, just like his idol Dzhugashvili,” the journalist wrote.
Statement from Navalny’s wife
Alexei Navalny’s wife Yulia made a statement during a speech at the Munich conference.
I don’t know whether to believe or not this terrible news that we only receive from Russian government sources. For many years we cannot trust Putin and Putin’s government. They always lie. But if this is true, I want Putin, his government to know: they are responsible for what they did to our country, my family and my husband, and that day will come very soon.
I want to call on the entire world community, all the people in this room in the world, so that we unite together and defeat this evil, defeat the terrible regime that is now in Russia. This regime and Vladimir Putin must bear personal responsibility for all the terrible things they have been doing to my country, to our country Russia, in recent years,” Navalnaya said.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.