Alexey Navalny’s death removes the most prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin, and sends another unmistakable signal of the dangers of standing up to the Russian leader’s increasingly repressive regime.

Ever since he rose to international prominence in massive pro-democracy protests in Russia in 2011-2012, it was evident to both the Kremlin and Putin’s opponents that the charismatic and witty Navalny had the potential to become a serious political challenge.

It was equally clear that Navalny was living on borrowed time after he returned to Russia in early 2021 and defied warnings of imprisonment.

Navalny’s death had been confirmed in an “official message” to his mother, said Kira Yarmysh, his spokesperson, on the X social media platform and in a video statement on Saturday.  

The fate of the opposition activist follows a fatal plane crash that killed Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last year. Prigozhin, who became a hero to Russian nationalists for his part in fighting in Ukraine, was reported killed in August, exactly two months after leading a mutiny against the Defense Ministry’s leadership that spiraled into the biggest threat to Putin’s nearly quarter-century rule.  

The two incidents serve to remove figures who publicly opposed Putin, though from very different perspectives. That alone sends a powerful message to Russians and to the world as the second anniversary nears of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that triggered a wave of sanctions and prompted the US and its allies to supply weaponry to Kyiv.

Navalny’s death was announced on the eve of official campaigning for the March 17 presidential election in which Putin is seeking a fifth term. Government leaders quickly accused the Kremlin and some directly blamed Putin, the former KGB officer who’s on course to equal Soviet tyrant Josef Stalin’s record term as ruler in Moscow.

Russian authorities have yet to disclose a cause of death, saying Navalny felt unwell after a walk and lost consciousness. Just a day earlier, he’d appeared on video from prison at a court hearing, joking cheerfully with officials.

Putin was so hostile to Navalny that he refused to use his name when reporters asked questions about the activist, a trend followed by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Russian state television, which for years had banned any mention of Navalny, briefly reported his demise.

With relations between Russia and the West already largely severed over Putin’s attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, it’s unclear if US and European condemnation of Navalny’s death will turn into more concrete penalties against the Kremlin.

Friends and allies of Navalny had worried constantly for his safety in prison as the Kremlin engaged in the biggest crackdown on dissent in decades to crush opposition to the war.

That concern intensified when Navalny, 47, was transferred to a remote Arctic prison colony, IK-3, in late December from a jail outside Moscow. In his last post on X, formerly Twitter, on Feb. 14, he reported that he’d been sentenced to 15 days in a punishment cell for the fourth time since he’d arrived there.

He’d been advocating from prison on social media for a nationwide protest during the presidential election, encouraging people to arrive at polling stations at exactly midday to vote against Putin. Navalny had also condemned the invasion of Ukraine.

His death is the latest in a string of incidents involving leading critics of the Kremlin.

Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was assassinated in Moscow within sight of the Kremlin walls in February 2015. Campaigning journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the lift of her Moscow apartment building on Putin’s birthday in October 2006.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, another prominent opposition figure sentenced to 25 years for treason in April after he condemned the invasion of Ukraine, has accused the Russian authorities of twice poisoning him in the past.

In his early years at least, Navalny courted controversy by reaching out to nationalist elements who were hostile to the Kremlin as well as to foreigners and minorities. Navalny justified the ties by arguing he was trying to build a broad coalition against Putin, but many liberal activists remained suspicious of him.

Fearless and Internet-savvy, Navalny gained a huge online following in Russia with investigations exposing corruption at state companies and among top officials, using social media posts to bypass the blackout on state television. In January 2021, he caused a storm with a video exposing a lavish $1.3 billion Black Sea palace that he said was built for Putin.

The video, which has been viewed more than 129 million times on YouTube, was released after Navalny was detained when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he’d been treated for a nerve-agent poisoning in Siberia in 2020 that he and the West blamed on the Kremlin. Russia denied involvement.

Later that year, Russia outlawed Navalny’s nationwide network of campaign groups as “extremist,” forcing activists to disband and many to flee abroad. Navalny himself was suffering from worsening health in prison and looked gaunt at court hearings after spending 24 days on hunger strike to demand better medical care.

The fate of the opposition leader and his movement, made up of mostly young professionals, contrasted starkly with the early optimism of the massive protests in 2011-2012 against Putin’s return to the presidency in place of Dmitry Medvedev. The Kremlin crackdown that had followed failed to dim their determination.

When Navalny was unexpectedly allowed to contest Moscow mayoral elections in September 2013, following widespread protests in support of his release from detention, he came within a whisker of forcing a run-off against Sergei Sobyanin, the incumbent Putin ally. He got 27% against 51% for Sobyanin.

That was the last time Navalny was permitted to run. When he mounted a campaign to challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential election, officials barred him from the ballot because of a fraud conviction that Navalny, the US, and the European Union had criticized as politically motivated.

“Navalny was essentially killed when he was arrested years ago,” said Thad Troy, managing director of Crumpton Global and a former CIA officer in Moscow. “It’s an inevitable next step for Putin to strengthen his hold over Russia.”

In prison, Navalny continued his defiance of Putin. He also disclosed that he’d developed a belief in God after years of atheism, surprising many of his supporters.

“Our country is built on injustice. But tens of millions of people want the truth,” he told a court during a failed 2021 appeal hearing. “And sooner or later they’ll get it.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

India should not be criticised for having multiple options, asserted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday when asked about the country’s foreign policy priorities in the backdrop of observations that it is traversing from “non-alignment to all alignment”.

His remarks came at an interactive session at a security conference in Munich in the presence of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

While putting the question, the moderator specifically mentioned India’s continuing procurement of crude oil from Russia notwithstanding Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Why should it be a problem? I am smart enough to have multiple options. You should be admiring and not criticising. Is it a problem for others? I do not think so,” he said.

In that context, Mr Jaishankar explained the different pulls and pressures countries face, adding that different nations have different histories and challenges and it is very hard to have a unidimensional relationship.

“I do not want you, even inadvertently, to give the impression that we are purely and unsentimentally transactional. We are not. We get along with people, we believe in things, we share things…but there are times when you are located in different places, different levels of development, different experiences, all of that gets into it,” he explained.

“So life is complicated, life is differentiated,” he said.

“Good partners provide choices, smart partners take some of those choices” Mr Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister also described the October 7 attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas as “terrorism” but at the same time, referring to Tel Aviv’s response, said Israel has an international obligation to observe the humanitarian law. He also highlighted India’s long-held position of a “two-state solution” on the Palestine issue.

Israel has been continuing its military offensive in Gaza as part of its retaliation to the unprecedented attack on Israeli cities by Hamas on October 7. India strongly condemned the terror attack by Hamas and has been calling for de-escalation of the situation.

To a question, the External Affairs Minister said the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India- China-South Africa) grouping started in an era when Western dominance was very strong.

Mr Jaishankar said last year, around 30 countries showed interest in being part of BRICS as they saw value in it. There must be something good we have done, he said.

“I think it is important today to make a distinction between being non-West and anti-West. I would certainly characterise India as a country which is non-West but which has extremely strong relations with the Western countries that is getting better by the day,” he added.

The buzz over veteran leader Kamal Nath’s possible switchover to the BJP has put the Congress in damage control mode, with party leaders reaching out to MLAs to ensure that the senior leader’s exit does not turn into a mass exodus months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Umang Singhar and other top leaders are speaking to MLAs one on one to hear out their grievances, according to sources. The focus is on MLAs, former legislators and Congress functionaries known to be close to Mr Nath and his son and MP Nakul Nath. A major chunk of MLAs switching over will weaken the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and also shield the turncoats from the anti-defection law.

Among those under the spotlight are former ministers Sajjan Singh Verma and Sukhdev Panse and MLAs Satish Singh Sikarwar, Sukhdev Panse, Sanjay Uikey, Nilesh Uikey, Sohan Valmiki, Vijay Chaure, Kamlesh Shah and Lakhan Ghangoriya.

Sajjan Singh Verma, former minister and former MP, has said that Mr Nath has not decided to join the BJP yet but made it amply clear that he will follow the veteran leader if he makes the big move.

“Only three things matter in politics — Maan (pride), Samman (respect) and Swabhimaan (self-respect). When these are hurt, a leader is bound to take major decisions. As of now, Kamal Nath ji hasn’t decided to join BJP. Whatever is doing the rounds is pure speculation. If a towering leader who has dedicated over 40 years of his life to the Congress doesn’t get the respect he deserves, he is bound to take major decisions. I have been his follower for four decades and will follow him,” he said.

Mr Verma and Mr Panse are among the MLAs who are currently in Delhi with Mr Nath.

Mr Nath and his son Nakul landed in Delhi last afternoon amid a wave of speculation that he may join the BJP. The switchover, if it eventually happens, will be another big jolt to the Congress ahead of the general election. More so, because the state in question here is Madhya Pradesh, a part of the heartland where the BJP is a formidable force and is looking to repeat its stellar show in the state polls last year.

If Mr Nath is followed into the BJP by a sizeable chunk of MLAs, it will be another big setback to the Congress after the Jyotiraditya Scindia-led mutiny brought down its government in 2020. Incidentally, Mr Nath helmed the Congress government back then.

Mr Nath’s remarks to the media yesterday have only added to the buzz. “If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first. You people are getting excited. I am not getting excited, this side or that side, but if there would be any such thing, I would inform you first,” he said.

According to reports, the BJP leadership has been in touch with the Mr Nath for several weeks now.

The Madhya Pradesh Congress leadership, however, is putting up a brave front. “Can you dream of the third son of Indiraji (Gandhi) joining the BJP?” state party chief Jitu Patwari told reporters yesterday. He said Mr Nath stood with the Congress like a rock during the 2020 mutiny.

In his four-decades-long political career, Mr Nath has held several positions within the Congress, as well as in the central and state governments. His son, Nakul Nath, is currently Congress MP from Chhindwara, a stronghold of the veteran leader.