Alexei Navalny’s Death and its Impact on International Politics

While the circumstances of Alexei Navalny’s death are debated, there is no debate that his death has impacted the world dramatically. His death then grows even more significant when the period it occurred is taken into account: he died just days after the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And yet, many people have no idea who Alexei Navalny even is. 

Alexei Navalny was a Russian politician, lawyer, and the opposition leader to Vladimir Putin. Throughout his lifetime, Navalny gained support within Russia through his social media and leading of protests. He then became the focus of international news when he was poisoned in 2020, leading to the creation of the Oscar-winning documentary “Navalny” in 2022. 

Throughout the 2010s, Navalny organized many anti-corruption protests and ran against Putin in political elections. Then, on August 20, 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, becoming sick on a flight to Moscow. Navalny blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning, but the government repeatedly denied involvement. 

After Navalny’s poisoning, he stayed out of Russia for an extended period. He ultimately returned in January 2021 and was immediately detained and arrested. Later, in December of 2023, Navalny was moved to an Arctic Circle corrective colony (prison camp) in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug region. 

On February 26th, 2024, the Russian prison service reported that Navalny had died at the age of 47. His death sparked limited protests in Russia and many neighboring countries. Many international organizations have made accusations against the Russian authorities in connection with his death, but the cause of Navalny’s death has not been confirmed. The Russian government refused to turn his corpse over to his mother. His funeral was held on March 1st when tens of thousands of people came to Moscow to mourn and show support. At the funeral, mourners chanted against Putin and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine had happened only two days before Navalny’s death. Within America, politicians have been debating whether or not sending aid to Ukraine is necessary. According to the Pew Research Center, “about three in ten Americans (31%) say the United States is providing too much assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, while about half say that the U.S. is providing the right amount of support (29%) or not providing enough (18%).”  

While America may seem to be “moving on” from the Ukrainian conflict, many do not have that luxury. Not everyone gets to move on. On March 3rd, a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine, killed 7 people. Then, in February, Russia captured the town of Avdiivka. Since then, the invaders have advanced further west, and taken several villages. Many Eastern Ukrainians have been bracing for more attacks. On February 25th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed the estimated number of casualties at a forum in Kyiv: “31,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in this war.” He also said that “tens of thousands” of civilians have been killed in occupied areas of Ukraine. Unlike most Americans, those tens of thousands of people will never get to move on.

The Russian rhetoric surrounding the Ukrainian conflict is continuously confusing. In his interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it seem like he would be open to the conversation of a “Russian strategic defeat.” But then, only a few weeks later, Putin gave his annual State of the Nation address where he never mentioned what it might take for the Ukrainian war to end and continued to avoid discussing Navalny. He then went on to threaten nuclear war if the West were to send any troops to aid Ukraine. 

Navalny’s death and the Ukrainian conflict provide a glance into the political landscape of Russia today. According to the Chatham House, if a leader of the opposition, who is still coming short in the polls, is arrested and poisoned multiple times, it just shows how unstable Russia is, “The Kremlin has so scorched the political landscape of meaningful, autonomous opposition forces that even a figure with minority support in society was seen as an existential threat.” 

Many fear that the hope for a ‘Putin-less’ Russia dies with Navalny. However, in the “Navalny” documentary, when Navalny himself was asked to tell the Russian people what they should do if he is killed, he responded, “If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong…We need to utilize this power to not give up, to remember we are a huge power that is being oppressed by these bad people.” Whether or not Navalny’s legacy is enough to set Russia ablaze is hard to tell, but hopefully, Navalny’s message of perseverance and change will be the spark that lights the first match.