“Even though Alexey Navalny is dead, there is always hope,” she said, “I think there are always people who do not support Vladimir Putin,” she added. But as this election approaches, you can’t discount what so many ordinary Russians tell you, face to face. Asked about the war in Ukraine and if he held Putin responsible for Russia’s involvement, he replied: “No, we support him in it. What is unclear now, though, is how much longer that support will last, especially if Russian war casualties mount, crackdowns on dissent gather pace and economic hardships dig in. Even before the public mourning of Navalny, thousands of Russians came out to support the nomination of an anti-war presidential hopeful, Boris Nadezhdin, whose candidature was ultimately rejected by the Russian election authorities.

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Persons: Russia’s, Vladimir Putin, Alexey Navalny, Alexey, “, Vera Savina, Yulia, ”, Putin, Dmitry, CNN “, ” Sergey, Artyom, CNN Artyom, Boris Nadezhdin Organizations: Moscow CNN, CNN, Russia, Getty, Levada Center Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Navalny, AFP, Soviet, Komi Republic, Russia’s, Russian