- Sasha Anand
The Navalny protests and Russias fight for freedom
By Aadit Garg
As of late, there has been little media coverage on Russia, a far cry from the extensive 2022-2023 reporting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, you may still recall a brief period of coverage on the suspicious death of Alexei Navalny. The resulting protests in Russia highlight how youth are involved in Russian politics.
Alexei Navalny was a highly prominent figure in Russian opposition politics. His political career started as a grassroots anti-corruption campaigner, with a blog combatting corruption in some of Russia’s largest state-run corporations. He had a powerful effect on social media and eventually, in 2011, led large street protests against President Putin. From then on, he cycled in and out of jails, being banned from the general election in 2017. He went on to survive several suspected and confirmed poisoning attempts, showcasing his threatening political momentum. However, in 2021, even after a confirmed and nearly lethal attempt on his life en route to Germany, he returned to Moscow. There, he was immediately detained, never to be free again. He died on February 16th, still fighting his anti-corruption campaign.
His death prompted a huge wave of reactions on the international stage, calls of sympathy for the Navalny family and condemnation of Russian politics. Navalny’s death, and the death of Putin’s political rivals in general, has been shrouded in doubt. Navalny was in good health before his death, which happened rather unexpectedly due to illness on a random stroll, Russia has a track record of killing political rivals, and Navalny was treated with horrible conditions while incarcerated. These factors have motivated large amounts of condemnation over his death.
Navalny’s protests in the past have inspired youth participation. For example, the DOXA magazine, founded by students of the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, covered Navalny’s protests and ran a fundraising campaign to help detained students pay fines. They talked more generally about education and censorship as well, eventually being subject to house arrest. As a result of student involvement, both the government and institutions in Russia have cracked down on protests and increased attempts to “educate” youth against protesting, especially combatting anti-war protests that have recently gained steam.
Youth protests in Russia highlight the relative inability of the Russian government to influence youth with government propaganda as well, prompting Putin to increase youth focus in government communication.
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