Kremlin out to show who’s the boss with move on Alexei Navalny

There is the possibility that Alexei Navalny was targeted because the Kremlin believes that now is the perfect time to eliminate its critics.

If the Kremlin or shadowy figures close to Vladimir Putin were ­responsible for poisoning Alexei Navalny, the question many ­people will be asking is not “why” but “why now?”

The opposition leader has been a thorn in The Russian President’s side since heading massive protests over electoral fraud in the 2011 parliamentary elections. His YouTube videos on alleged high-level corruption have been watched by tens of millions of ­people, embarrassing government officials and prompting huge protests.

He has made powerful enemies, among them Viktor Zolotov, head of the national guard, which is often referred to as Putin’s “personal army”.

In 2018 Zolotov threatened to “make juicy mincemeat” out of Navalny after he accused the ­national guard of corruption. Only last week Yevgeny Prigozhin, a ­tycoon linked to the Kremlin, vowed to ruin Navalny financially if he emerged from his coma. He denies allegations that he sent thugs to poison the husband of Lyubov Sobol, a Navalny ally, in 2016.

But analysts say the Kremlin has long been concerned that sending Navalny to prison for a long time, or worse, could trigger unrest, and turn him into a fully-fledged martyr.

A 2013 attempt to jail him for five years on disputed fraud charges ended in his swift release after opposition supporters surrounded the Russian parliament. Navalny said later that he believed the prosecutor had been pressured into freeing him because the government was worried the protests would escalate.

So why would the Kremlin take the risk of moving against Navalny now? Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister who advises Navalny, believes Putin was shaken by the protests in neighbouring Belarus against President Lukashenko, another autocratic leader, and saw uncomfortable parallels with the situation in Russia. “Navalny and I had recently discussed the fact that the Kremlin is really annoyed by our YouTube channel,” Milov told the RFE/RL website. “What’s happening in ­Belarus is a revolution that began with YouTube.”

Navalny’s promotion of tactical voting to defeat United Russia, Putin’s ruling party, has also proven a headache for the Kremlin.

There is also, of course, the disquieting possibility that Navalny was targeted because the Kremlin believed that now was the perfect time to eliminate its critics. In July Putin secured another 16 years in power at a national referendum on constitutional changes that was marred by allegations of vote rigging. The Kremlin was braced for protests, but only a few hundred people took to the streets; even fewer after Navalny’s poisoning.

“The Kremlin wants to prove that no one can tell it what to do. Neither the law, nor the international community, nor God,” said Moscow activist Andrei Pivovarov.

The Times