Despite poisoning and repression
Navalny declares his return to Putin’s Russia
January 17, 2024, 4:52 p.m
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Kremlin opponent Navalny has been harassed in Russian prisons and camps for exactly three years. But he appears unbroken and answers the question of why he even returned to Russia after being poisoned.
The imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny says he deliberately returned to his homeland three years ago and allowed himself to be imprisoned. Navalny wrote on Platform X on the third anniversary of his return that he was often asked why he did not stay abroad. His answer is always: “I have my country and my beliefs.”
Anyone who wants to stand up for this in Russia must be prepared to sit in solitary confinement if necessary. “Of course I don’t like being there. But I won’t give up my ideas or my home.” And for this you have to make sacrifices if necessary. “By returning to Russia, I fulfilled my promise to the voters. There must be people in Russia who won’t lie to them.”
The question of his return leads to frustration, the post continues. On the one hand, because he can’t find the right words to put an end to the constant questions. On the other hand, he is frustrated with the political landscape in Russia over the past decades. “This landscape has cynicism and conspiracy theories so deeply embedded in society that people are naturally suspicious of simple motives.”
Putin’s rule will also end at some point
At the same time, the 47-year-old is optimistic: President Vladimir Putin’s rule will end. His demand for a different leadership is not exotic, sectarian or radical. Anyone who has power must give it back. “The best way to elect a leader is through honest and free elections.”
After being treated in Germany for the consequences of a poison attack in Russia, Navalny returned to Russia on January 17, 2021 and was arrested at the airport. Last December, the politician, who was classified as a political prisoner, disappeared for several weeks. It later turned out that the justice system had moved him from the European part of Russia to a prison camp in the far north of Siberia.
Navalny suspects that he should be as isolated as possible there before the upcoming so-called presidential election in March. It is almost certain that Putin will then be confirmed in office. His competitors have been eliminated, there is no free media landscape in Russia, and any criticism of the Kremlin is massively suppressed.
In Brussels, the EU called for the immediate release of Navalny and other political prisoners in Russia to mark the anniversary.