Putin vs. Navalny – The Weakness of Russia

It was great Strength test. And in the struggle between power and the opposition Then there is a deficit Who seems to win. On Wednesday, large demonstrations called for the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny from prison and the help of his doctors. And that was the day President Vladimir Putin gave an annual address to the nation, before the Moscow Attorney General formally launched hasty work on equating support for Navalny’s anti-corruption work with support for terrorism. One could say that Russia had one of the relatively frequent appointments with fate. There are such encounters that no overly healthy organism should have.

A few tens of thousands appeared For Wednesday’s demonstrations. There were about 2000 in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Other than that, there were only a few dozen and hundreds of protesters, as well as in the cities of millions, and far from the half a million they had hoped. After all, many of those attending expressed a sense of duty to show solidarity through attendance. There is no longer a popular belief that one can “win” this time, in the sense that one can challenge the Kremlin under Putin. The resignation that followed was the flags of the protesters, not victory. An obvious expression of this is that the main character – Navalny – fights for his life with his body as an intervention in a prison hospital. The other thing is that many of the key leaders of Navalny’s organization have gone abroad because they are right to fear long prison terms.

It is not strength But the power that makes the Kremlin equals support for the opposition is by supporting terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS. He failed to have to use terror laws to suppress the future, because it was young people in the big cities who were the core of Navalny’s supporters. It is the historically supervising body of Russian society, known as the intelligentsia, which is now under brutal repression. It is being fought by a regime that has long taken off silk gloves, which is now fighting without gloves to prevent alternative strategies for Russia’s future from speaking out.

Putin seized the opportunity To ride on the back of power, as usual Navalny’s name was not mentioned in his speech. But he has spoken threateningly of red lines that no one should cross if he wants to. There are both lines with respect to the West Support Ukraine. There are other penalties, for example, against the use of terrorist legislation against the opposition. It is – unfortunately – the language of helplessness that we hear.