I doubt that Alexei Navalny would ever have sought to become a martyr. His goal was simply to see his beloved Russia and its people living in freedom — freedom from tyranny, want, and fear. His method was to spread the truth: loudly, clearly, peaceably. He was met with persecution, poisoning, criminal prosecution, imprisonment, torture, isolation, starvation, and a long, slow, painful death in a penal colony in the frozen Siberian nowhere.

Vladimir Putin and his minions of course deny any complicity in Navalny’s treatment or his death . . . while at the same time threatening Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, with “the same fate.” As offered by Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov on Tuesday, February 27th: “The same fate awaits Navalnaya. If she comes to Russia, she will go to prison.” [Shannon Vavra, Daily Beast, Feb. 25, 2024.] Presently outside Russia, it is unclear whether Yulia Navalnaya will be able to attend her own husband’s funeral.

*. *. *

As I write this on the eve of the funeral (7:00 p.m. Thursday E.S.T. time, 3:00 a.m. Friday in Moscow), I see reports that there is already a police presence outside the church. Putin is well aware of the outpouring of grief that has already been seen since Navalny’s death was announced; and he must now realize that, in allowing this man to die while in custody, he has inadvertently created his own worst nightmare: a martyr, beloved by the freedom-seeking Russian populace and survived by a wife, children, mother, and team of compatriots who will carry on the fight against Putin’s tyrannical reign. Does he plan to kill them all?

We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Brendochka
2/29/24