On February 16, the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia announced the death of Alexei Navalny. First, the politician was poisoned, later he was allowed to go abroad for treatment, then he was arrested and kept in prison for 3 years.
Why did Putin kill Navalny right now?
Why did Vladimir Putin kill him right now - suggested the former Minister of Energy of Russia and an oppositionist - Volodymyr Milov. According to him, the head of the Kremlin is an NKVD member and a sadist. Before the murder, Putin wanted to torture Oleksiy Navalny in the pretrial detention center in inadequate conditions for several years.
If we look at the last six months, we can see that it was in the making. Initially, Navalny was cut off from all communications and correspondence. Then in October, all the lawyers who worked with him for several years were arrested or sent to exile, the oppositionist said.
And already in December 2023, they were transferred to isolated colony No. 3 "Polar Wolf" in the village of Harp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. It functions as a "colony for particularly dangerous recidivists." This is one of the northernmost and most remote colonies in Russia. There they could do anything with Navalny.
Suppose, the last straw before the murder of a Russian politician was 2 things:
presidential elections in Russia in March. Putin nervously perceives any information and feels insecure;
tension in the international arena. The head of the Kremlin feels that the situation is growing in his favor — someone is turning away from Ukraine, someone does not approve of aid.
In my opinion, the most idiotic "pessimism" and "all is lost". There was an article that "we all lose" and so on. Putin feels this and wants to send an additional impulse "I am in a strong position", "I wanted to spit on you in general", "now I killed Navalny, tomorrow I will release something else, and you will not do anything to me". I was in Brussels, and almost everyone I spoke with agreed that it was no coincidence that it happened at the beginning of the Munich Conference. This is such a message, "I do whatever I want," emphasized Volodymyr Milov.
Why was Navalny released abroad?
On August 20, 2020, Russian opposition leader Oleksiy Navalny was flying to Moscow from Tomsk, when he became ill in the cabin of the plane. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, the politician was hospitalized in serious condition with poisoning.
Associates believe that he was poisoned with poison in the tea. Navalny ended up in a coma on a ventilator. Russian doctors declared that he was "untransportable", but in a couple of days they still released him for treatment in Germany.
According to Milov, the Kremlin released Navalny abroad because the political situation was different. Putin's cronies did not fully understand all the risks.
Then mass protests began in Belarus, which was not expected in Russia. They strongly influenced and changed the attitude towards the opposition movement. They began to restrict him and declare him "extremist".
In addition, at about the same time, Vladimir Putin decided to prepare for the so-called "SVO" in Ukraine, and he did not need the opposition at all, so he carried out "clearances".
