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More than 230 people have been arrested in Russia for showing support for the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny during protests in several cities across the country. Navalny died on Friday in his cell at the age of 47, some say he was murdered and President Putin is behind it. The death receives little attention in Russian state media.
Russian state media generally pay little attention to critics of the Moscow regime. The death of Alexei Navalny also barely gets airtime on media channels linked to the Kremlin. The news of Russia 1, the main state channel, had been running for more than 40 minutes on Friday evening before reporting on Navalny’s death. That report lasted 35 seconds and consisted of the official announcement from the Russian prison.
The other popular channels also presented the news very briefly and to the point, without more context about who Navalny is, his role as opposition leader and why he was locked up in prison. Viewers were told his death would be “thoroughly investigated”. Navalny’s face was not shown and he was described as a detainee.
A liberal politician who wanted to speak out about the death of Alexei Navalny was immediately interrupted by the TV presenter, who asked him what this had to do with the topic they were discussing. Reports of Navalny’s death immediately went viral on internet platforms such as X and Telegram. News of his death reached millions of Russians in this way.
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Marina Litvinenko calls on Navalny’s widow to ensure that the international community “never forgets” her husband’s death. — © AFP
“Time to switch from words to actions”
The death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny should prompt Western countries to switch from “words to action” against the regime of President Vladimir Putin. The widow of Aleksander Litvinenko, a former employee of the Russian intelligence services who was poisoned in 2006, said this on Saturday.
Litvinenko has lived in exile in Britain since 2001 after exposing corruption and alleged links between Russian intelligence services and organized crime. He died on November 23, 2006 in London from poisoning with radioactive polonium-210. Litvinenko was 43 years old.
Marina Litvinenko calls on Navalny’s widow to ensure that the international community “never forgets” her husband’s death. “It’s not enough to talk about it yesterday, today and maybe a few days to come. We must talk about it as long as necessary until Yulia (Navalnaya) gets justice,” said the widow of the former Russian dissident.
Aleksander Litvinenko died on November 23, 2006 in London from poisoning with radioactive polonium-210. — © EPA