Already and this this is the daily This is the Daily OS. Oh, now it makes sense. Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It is Tuesday, the twentieth of February.
I'm billy, I'm emma.
Over the weekend, Alexi Navalney, the most vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in prison.
Russia's prison authorities have announced that the leading Kremlin critic, Alexi Nevelni has died. Alexi date yesterday on sixteenth of February at seventeen pm local time.
Putin is Responsible's death. Putin is responsible.
Navalney was in jails serving multiple sentences for crimes he claimed were fabricated. Since the news of his death broke, many Western leaders have been quick to blame the Russian government for his death. In today's deep dive discussing who Alexi noaval Nee was and why his death has such significant global ramifications. But first, Emma, what's making him?
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Late on Friday evening, it was announced that Alexi Navalni, who was Russia's main opposition leader the main critic of Putin and his government, died in jail at the age of forty seven. Navalne was famous not just in Russia but all around the world for being President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critic. So I think to start us off, we need to talk about exactly who Alexinovalni was.
Yeah, it was quite shocking news to wake up to on Saturday morning. I feel like it's something that we've known could potentially happen, but still I think when it does happen, it feels shocking.
I think a lot of people felt that way, like a long time coming potentially in terms of the risk and the risks that he had taken. But yeah, exactly, I think a similar emotional response for probably a lot of our audience.
Yeah, so let's talk about who he was. So he first rose to prominence in the two thousands for blogging online about the corruption he believed to be widespread in Russia, and certainly he's not alone in that belief. In doing research for this, I came across this quote from twenty and eleven, which I think really speaks to exactly what he believed then and certainly believed as the years went on. So he told Reuters at the time, quote corruption is
the foundation of contemporary Russia. It is a foundation of mister Putin's political power. I would like to be president, but there are no elections in Russia.
Now.
He went on to be the most successful opponent to Pudin, and we've said that he was the opposition leader, but he actually never was able to run for office, and that's because Russia has an authoritative government, which is exactly what Navalni was so passionate about criticizing and changing, but clearly wasn't able to do that. In the last presidential election in twenty eighteen, he did try, but he was formally barred from running due to a fraud conviction, which
was widely viewed as politically motivated. So people widely said that the Russian government just did this to stop him from ever being able to run against Pudin, as opposed to it being a credible conviction.
I think we also need to point out here that Putin and the Kremlin Russian officials would argue against the notion that Russia does not conduct elections. There is an
election coming this year. The question is, and the argument from Navalni from the years that he was active in Russian politics, has always been that those elections are not free and fair, that they are a front to give the illusion of free democracy, but that the results are guaranteed and that the power stays in the hands of Vladimir Putin.
And certainly without a opposition, you can't really have a fair election exactly, But let's keep going. You might also know this was massive news at the time that in twenty twenty Navalny was actually poisoned.
I do remember this. There was a series of poisonings around that time. I think people listening have probably heard the word Novachuk a few times. What can you tell me about that incident, specifically, what happened to Nevalni?
Yes, So, in twenty twenty Navalny became violently ill after boarding a flight to Moscow, and that was very sudden. At the time, there weren't really any symptoms before now. He was treated by doctors in Germany and they had no idea what happened at the time, But the German government later announced that he had been poisoned by Russia
in an attempt to silence him. The then German leader Angela Merkle said he had been the victim of a crime, and she said it raised questions only the Russian government can answer.
Now.
Of course, Pruden denied any involvement in that. But since twenty twenty one, Navalni has been in prison, serving multiple prison sentences, including a nineteen year sentence for extremism, and he again said all of those cases against him were completely fabricated and had no credibility behind them. Despite being in prison, though, that did not stop him from campaigning
for what he believed in. For example, he was a staunch opponent of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and he certainly kept campaigning for that to end while he was in jail.
Going back to that poisoning incident, you said, Billy, that he was treated in Germany. The German government announced or accused Russia of poisoning him. Of course, Navalny ended up back in Russia, back behind bars, and that was because he passionately believed so much in the importance of that
opposition existing in Russia. He could have stayed in Germany, he could have lived in exile, but he went back to face those charges, and that's ultimately why he ended up in jailen and in jail is where he died. So we know he was a staunch critic of the Kremlin. He had survived this previous attack. What do we know about his death. What happened on the weekend.
So his death was announced in an extremely vague statement from the prison service in the region where he was in jail, and it said convict Alexi Navalny felt unwell after a war, almost immediately losing consciousness. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict. Now, initially, Navalny's representatives actually couldn't confirm his death, but they said
that if it was true, he was killed. But then over the weekend, his official spokesperson did confirm his death, writing on x Alexi Navalny was murdered. We demand that Alexi Navalne's body be handed over to his family immediately. Now, according to Rud's, Navalny's family was told that he had died of sudden death syndrome. And that's a pretty vague term, but it basically means that he would have died suddenly
from a cardiac arress. But I think it's fair to say that the world reaction is that Navalny didn't just die suddenly, and this is certainly not being seen as an accident.
Yeah, just in regards to that global response, we've seen a bit in Australia. Obviously in countries outside of Russia, the conversation does not have to hide behind any of that. So what are world leaders and other countries saying about this?
Well, I think it's unsurprising for anyone who is familiar with this story that many Western world leaders, including Australias, have blamed Pudin and his regime in no uncertain terms. There is no ambiguity. There's not even the word allegedly being used. These leaders are saying Putin is responsible. I'll give you a few examples. So here's a short grab of what US President Joe Biden said during a press conference shortly after Navalne's death.
Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalane's death. What has happened in Navalne is yet more proof of Putin's brutality. No one should before.
And a statement from the European Union said Navalney quote was slowly murdered by President Putin and his regime, who feel nothing more than dissent from their own people here in Australia, like I said Prime Minister Anthony Alberanzi also said Russia was responsible in no uncertain terms. He said it is an appalling atrocity and that Navalley's treatment is just beyond the pale, and we hold Vladimir Putin responsible for that.
So, like I said, the conversation internationally can be as critical of Putin as it wants. We know that for Russian people in Russia that is not the same. So what do we know about how the people of Russia have responded to this. I saw some vision of some protests, some arrests.
Yeah, I think it's fair to say that people are really angry, and in a country like Russia, it's certainly not easy to express that anger without being reprimanded. But certainly they're not happy. So we've seen reports about police temporarily detaining hundreds of mourners and placing some in jail. I read a quote in a New York Times piece about the arrests, and it was from a Russian sociologist, Grigory Juden, who said, quote, grief is a collective action,
and any collective action is by definition political. In Russia, if a collective activity is not ordered, it is basically prohibited. So because protests are effectively banned in Russia, these gatherings of mourners are being met by police action.
I also saw some footage of what I assume a Russian authorities or local police with garbage bags going to these sort of pop up memorials, floral tributes and just packing them all away in garbage bags and you know, moving on with Then those sites quickly repopulated by other mourners with more tributes, so that cycle kind of just continues. Billy,
what do we know about Russia's response to this? Has Putin said anything in regards to defending all this criticism, you know, with all eyes on Russia, the international community condemning what's happened, how have they responded.
So at the time of recording, Putin himself has not said anything, which is perhaps not surprising. During Navalney's life, Pudin actually acknowledged his existence very little publicly. He didn't really say his name much at all. But we have heard a spokesperson for the Kremlin say that Pudin has been informed of Navalney's death, but there was no other
information about how he died anything like that. He did say, though, that Russia's prison service is carrying out all the checks and procedures in accordance with all the existing rules.
And like we said, there is an election in Russia this year, next month actually, So given that Putin's main opponent has died, what can we expect to happen there?
Yeah, I mean, there's not much else to say other than what we've said, that there's an election next month. Of course, the country is run by an authoritarian regime, like we've said, and elections are generally accepted as being undemocratic, and that basically means that Pudin, who has been president since twenty twelve and also between two thousand and two thousand and eight before that, he's almost certain to win.
There really is no competition and here for I mean, I really should say when he does win, he will be in power until at least twenty thirty.
Well, we will certainly be keeping an eye on this one. It doesn't look like these protests and arrests and memorials are going away anytime soon, so it'll be fascinating to watch how people in Russia on the ground respond, and of course as we learn more about what happened to Navalni, if his body is released, if his family are able to conduct an autopsy. If there's any closure for them there. We will keep you updated. Thank you so much for
joining us on the Daily Ods. If you have two spare seconds today, we would really appreciate if you could share your thoughts with us on a pod survey. There's a link in the show notes. We just want to get an understanding of what it is you like about the Daily Ods. We can do better so we can keep bringing you quality content every day. Thanks for listening to today's episode. We will be back again tomorrow. Until then, have a good one.
My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda Bungelung Calkatin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.