Dissident Spotlight: Alexei Navalny
Alexei Navalny was one of Russia's most passionate opposition leaders. His journey is a lesson for anyone who aspires to practice courage or inspire change.
Alexei Navalny was a passionate anti-corruption crusader who became a politician. He ran for mayor of Moscow in 2013 in a show election where he gained legitimate popularity. In 2018, he ran an illegal presidential campaign to challenge Vladimir Putin and protest Putin’s regime.
Navalny did all this in the face of imprisonment, danger, and in his final sentence, a hard labor camp. He died on February 16, 2024 after falling unconscious in the penal colony where he was serving his latest sentence.
During his opposition against Putin, Navalny became known for snarky responses to oligarchic wealth and the contrasting economic woes of the Russian people. His government work, blogging, and activism made him well-known.
But it was Navalny’s stubborn courage that made him into the heroic dissident he became.
From Anti-Corruption Investigator to Opposition Leader
Navalny grew up in the Soviet Union, where corruption was part of everyday life. Long lines for milk and bread soured Navalny’s attitude toward the Soviet system, and the grifting within that system made him even angrier. With an early passion for politics, Navalny received a law degree and began working for Russia’s progressive party.
He was disappointed with his early days. The progressives weren’t a winning party in the 1990s or 2000s. However, he enjoyed some successes, like a series of 2006 protests against seven building demolitions in Moscow. The buildings were schoolhouses that would force students to commute near the edge of the city. The courts eventually took his side, and Navalny saved the schoolhouses.
But his time organizing grassroots campaigns led to a position as a debate moderator where he gained public recognition. He also started his blog, which would become central to Navalny’s communications in the years to come.
Bigger Targets, Greater Danger
His anti-corruption work became more public when he bought enough shares of large Russian companies to be invited to shareholder meetings. He attended a Surgutneftegas meeting and criticized the company’s low dividends and poor transparency.
Navalny’s political career was an escalation of his previous work. His attacks on Russian state-controlled companies became attacks on the oligarchs themselves. Navalny’s organizing became attempts to flip key seats in remote areas of Russia to build a coalition. (One of those trips was the site of his most well-known poisoning in 2020.)
The threats against him became more severe as his anti-corruption targets became larger and his investigations more detailed and in-depth. His investigations into state-controlled companies became blog posts reporting the findings of a drone hovering over an oligarch’s estate. Having his debates shut down became illegitimate court cases and prison time for imaginary charges.
Why Navalny Kept Fighting
Navalny didn’t become a dissident in one moment. His long-standing anger at Russian corruption, passion for politics, and dislike of being pushed around led him to pursue politics and law. His childhood and passion for fairness gave him the benchmark that he measured the Russian government against.
His drive and hope led him to continue speaking up, even as the dangers against him increased. When Putin had Navalny’s brother imprisoned on false charges, Navalny continued to fight the regime. He didn’t want to be like the Soviet dissidents who escaped the Soviet Union and wrote from a distance. Navalny wanted to be on the ground with his people.
Navalny’s LiveJournal blog remains live, and he has a memoir coming out in October 2024. David Herszenhorn has also written an excellent profile of Navalny called The Dissident. Anyone who wants to see what happens when a vision of a better world collides with a government that refuses to rise to that vision should peruse these writings.