‘I’m not going to surrender’: Alexei Navalny vows to keep resisting Moscow after two years in Russian jail
Mr Navalny is the highest-profile of the few remaining opposition voices in Russia
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has used the second anniversary of his incarceration to reinforce his promise to keep opposing the Kremlin, as his family and allies launched a campaign to free him.
Mr Navalny was arrested exactly two years ago as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for poisoning with a deadly Soviet-era nerve agent in what he and some Western nations said was a state assassination attempt. The Kremlin denied involvement.
“Our miserable, exhausted Motherland needs to be saved. It has been pillaged, wounded, dragged into an aggressive war, and turned into a prison run by the most unscrupulous and deceitful scoundrels,” Mr Navalny wrote on Twitter via his lawyers.
“Any opposition to this gang – even if only symbolic in my current limited capacity – is important. I’m not going to surrender my country to them, and I believe that the darkness will eventually fade away.”
Mr Navalny is the highest-profile of the few remaining opposition voices in Russia, having gained followers with repeated investigations purporting to show that the ruling class have enriched themselves lavishly at the expense of the state.
The Kremlin was forced to deny in 2021 that president Vladimir Putin himself was the owner of an opulent palace on the Black Sea, as Mr Navalny alleged in a video with 125 million views on YouTube. Mr Putin rarely mentions Navalny, and never by name.
The lawyer-turned-activist has been sentenced to a combined 11 and a half years in jail in two separate fraud cases, which he said had been trumped up to silence him, and his anti-corruption organisation has been banned as extremist.
Dasha Navalnaya, his daughter, appeared in a video clip on Tuesday to launch a campaign to free her father, who she said was being repeatedly and unjustly put in solitary confinement in prison for his fierce opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Of course the real reason my dad is in a punishment cell are his anti-war statements. And now they’re tormenting him and depriving him of any connection with the outside world in order to silence him,” said Ms Navalnaya.
“But my father is not afraid and will not stop fighting. My dad is an innocent man and deserves to be free.”
Russia’s federal prison service, FSIN, has defended Mr Navalny’s conditions in the past, while the authorities say his incarceration is legally sound.
The campaign to secure his release is designed to marshal support in Russia, and to publicise his fate and seek financial support abroad.
Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments