Where is the Russian Opposition, and Who is the New Navalny?
Russia is often referred to on the international stage as an “imitation democracy.” Consisting with a parliament and a direct presidential election, a system that hypothetically should guarantee democratic ideals.
In reality Russian politics have been manipulated by President Vladimir Putin for over 25 years, centralizing control over every aspect of the government and dictating nearly all military movements. While in office, he has instituted constitutional reforms removing restrictions related to holding office for more than two successive terms, allowing him to stretch his term limit. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, Putin has been handling all of diplomacy regarding Russia. Allowing him to flex his centralized control even more on the world stage.
In most other democratic countries, no matter how justified the war or the individual leading it, strong anti-war and/or impeachment movements commonly begin in opposition. In fact, discourse and disagreement are natural corrective forces in a true democracy. In Russia, there is in fact, an anti-war, pro-impeachment movement. However they lack a large following. Many voices expressing a need for political and cultural change in Russia have – “allegedly” – been silenced. Journalists, political leaders, ex-government officials, etc, have consistently been dying of mysterious causes.
These individuals belong to the Russian opposition: a group of people who share the goal of having a secure constitution. Mainly the opposition wishes to secure fair elections participated in by more than just Vladimir Putin.
Alexei Navalny, formerly the most prominent opposition leader, ran for Mayor of Moscow, and then attempted to run for president, until he was blocked from the ballot. He attended protests across Russia throughout his life. He and his team started the Anti-Corruption Foundation to combat the Russian media’s propaganda machine. However, it was Navalny’s YouTube videos that were among his most successful ventures. Garnering support globally by uncovering details regarding bribery, secret funds shuttled away into Spanish villas and/or Belarusian ships, all done by top Russian officials.
In September of 2020, independent polling projected that Alexei Navalny had 20% of Russian support. In that same year, he was poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok. A traditional poison used by Russian government agents, despite that, against all odds, he survived. He recuperated in a private hospital in Germany, taking months to recover.
After his recovery, he returned to Russia despite the risk of another assasination. He still insisted on returning. Upon arrival in Moscow, he was arrested and sentenced to nearly 20 years in an arctic penal colony. He died in that prison.
Going out in a Blaze of Glory: Navalny’s death garnering support across Russia
On February 16th of 2024, Alexei Navalny died in an arctic Russian penal colony called Polar Wolf. His cause of death was detailed by the government as “sudden death syndrome.” He was 47 years old.
When Boris Nemtsov was gunned down near the Kremlin in 2015, Russians marched in defiance in Moscow, with Alexei Navalny by their sides. When Navalny himself died in a remote Arctic prison in 2024, they marched again—this time across Europe. The protests showed that even Russia’s fragmented opposition could still come together in sorrow and rage. Navalny was not perfect – even among supporters, there was controversy around several nationalistic tweets – but people still took time out of their day to support him.
They maintained that Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila, had the right to his body after his death. In order to silence Nalvalny, minimize the impact of his death, his mother was threatened and intimidated by Russian investigators. One investigator, she recounts, told her Navalny’s body was already decomposing and she must agree to its release on Russian terms. It’s suspected that the body was not released due to interference with his death. Many suspect his uncertain cause of death to actually be the result of poisoning or murder within the prison. His supporters continued the opposition, reinforcing that Navalny’s wife, and his Anti Corruption Foundation should continue fighting Kremlin corruption.
Who (and where) is the Russian Opposition now?
After Alexei Navalny’s death, powerful political leaders in Russia, like Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ksenia Fadeeva said that there may not be another leader like Navalny who could unify so many. Even the Russian opposition now – with many of its leaders in jail and fleeing the country – is divided on the best course of action. A new fear around Putin has emerged, with many advocates still unable to believe Putin would actually kill Navalny, despite the many signs that suggested he would.As Putin’s aggression deepened, many of Navalny’s allies recalibrated their struggle. Ksenia Fadeeva, once head of his Siberian office during his presidential campaign, now speaks less about ballots and more about the simple defense of human rights.
Yulia Navalnaya, Video: ‘Stand Beside Me’: New York Times
But among those same advocates, there is a hope for a resistance lying in wait in Russia. Locations like Navalny’s grave in Moscow continue to be visited by countless hopefuls. On Navalny’s YouTube channel, he illustrates the corruption behind Russian officials, news networks, and under-the-table money transfers. His video’s views continue to stay up in the millions even though Navalny is no longer alive.
The aforementioned advocates, Ksenia Fadeeva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, were freed in a prisoner exchange after Navalny’s death. The first ‘victory’ for the opposition in a long time. Kara-Murza spent nearly a year in solitary confinement and still survived. After the swap in September of 2024, he was supposed to go back to Russia. Now, nearly a year later, Russia has denied him a passport from his home country.
Though many struggle to see how can there be an opposition when every outspoken member is subject to Vladimir Putin’s rule – through torture and isolation – opposition still thrives in Navalny’s Anti Corruption Foundation. His wife, Yulia, heads the organization outside of the country, due to a warrant for her arrest on the charge of extremism, which faces the death penalty in Russia. The rest of Navalny’s team has continued their work. Including his chief-of-staff Leonid Volkov, who months after Navalny’s death was badly beaten with a hammer in Lithuania.
Reporters Without Borders ranks Russia 168th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom. Below them? Syria, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and North Korea, among others. So the fight continues with a new TV channel that has been released by the Anti-Corruption Foundation,in collaboration with Reporters Without Borders. The channel will be accessible across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East via satellite, making it nearly impossible to shut down. This news outlet hopes to be representative of everything the Anti Corruption foundation stands for: bringing a truth to Russia that cannot be filtered out.
Navalny always spoke of the beautiful future Russia would have. His speeches looked toward it instead of to the past, which dominated Putin’s rhetoric. As Navalny said to the Russian people, “You will stand on those two legs on which a person should stand, and together we can bring the Beautiful Russia of the Future closer.”
The channel launched by his wife will be called, in translation, Russia’s Future. It was launched on June 4, 2025, which would have been Navalny’s 49th birthday.