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☆ U.S. Campaign to Isolate Russia Shows Limits After 2 Years of War
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Edward Wong | Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration and European allies call President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a tyrant and a war criminal. The president of Brazil says that Ukraine and Russia are both to blame for the war that began with the Russian military’s invasion. And his nation’s purchases of Russian energy and fertilizer have soared, pumping billions of dollars into the Russian economy. The views of the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, encapsulate the global bind in which the United States and Ukraine find themselves as the war enters its third year. Wielding economic sanctions and calling for a collective defense of international order, the United States sought to punish Russia with economic pain and political exile.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Biden Organizations: Biden, United Locations: Russia, Brazil, Ukraine, Russian, United States, Moscow

☆ Opinion: I grew up in Russia and Ukraine. Here’s what I say when people ask where I’m from
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Opinion Sasha Vasilyuk | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

She grew up between Ukraine, Russia and the United States. CNN —While for most of the world the war in Ukraine has been going on for two years, for my family it’s been 10. It was after that trip that I began writing a novel called “Your Presence Is Mandatory” that spans from World War II to the war in the Donbas. The world where Russia plays the role of the big sister to Ukraine has been shattered. And so, now when people ask me where I’m from, I say I’m from Ukraine and Russia.

Persons: Sasha Vasilyuk, Christopher Michel, Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Tucker Carlson, It’s, “, who’d, Ukraine —, I’m, it’s Organizations: CNN, Russian, Soviet Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Russian, Soviet, Donetsk, Berlin

☆ U.S. Warns Allies Russia Could Put a Nuclear Weapon Into Orbit This Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

American intelligence agencies have told their closest European allies that if Russia is going to launch a nuclear weapon into orbit, it will probably do so this year — but that it might instead launch a harmless “dummy” warhead into orbit to leave the West guessing about its capabilities. The assessment came as American intelligence officials conducted a series of rushed, classified briefings for their NATO and Asian allies, as details of the American assessment of Russia’s intentions began to leak out. The American intelligence agencies are sharply divided in their opinion about what President Vladimir V. Putin is planning, and on Tuesday Mr. Putin rejected the accusation that he intended to place a nuclear weapon in orbit and his defense minister said the intelligence warning was manufactured in an effort to get Congress to authorize more aid for Ukraine. During a meeting with the defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, Mr. Putin said Russia had always been “categorically against” placing nuclear weapons in space, and had respected the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits weaponizing space, including the placement of nuclear weapons in orbit.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Sergei K, Shoigu Organizations: NATO Locations: Russia, American, Ukraine

☆ Trump Again Compares Himself to Navalny While Discussing Legal Woes
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump continued to liken himself to the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny during a town hall in South Carolina on Tuesday, at one point directly comparing a civil fraud judgment against him to the case of an anticorruption activist who died in a Russian prison last week. Halfway through the town hall, the host, Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, asked Mr. Trump how he would come up with the $450 million penalty issued by a New York judge last week. “It is a form of — Navalny,” Mr. Trump said. Mr. Trump did not specifically address Mr. Navalny’s death until Monday, when he posted on social media that the situation was reminiscent of his legal problems. The former president faces four criminal cases, all of which he has attributed to President Biden, although Mr. Biden has no oversight over them.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, liken, Aleksei A, Fox, Laura Ingraham, Mr, Navalny, Vladimir V, Putin, Navalny’s, Biden Locations: Russian, South Carolina, New York, Russia

☆ Jon Stewart Takes Notes From Tucker Carlson’s Coverage of Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Trish Bendix | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. “I just think it’s better to deal head-on with what’s an apparent issue to people,” Stewart said, defending himself. It was 20 minutes! I did 20 minutes of one [expletive] show! I would need mentorship!” Stewart said before rolling a clip of Tucker Carlson’s interview with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Persons: ’ Jon Stewart, Biden, “, what’s, ” Stewart, ” — JON STEWART “, Tucker Carlson’s, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Netflix Locations: Russia

☆ Russian Pilot Who Defected to Ukraine Is Believed Dead in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Michael Schwirtz | Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Maksim Kuzminov pulled off a daring escape last summer when he defected to Ukraine and handed his military helicopter over to Ukrainian commandos in exchange for half a million dollars. Ukrainian intelligence officials warned Mr. Kuzminov that his life was in danger and urged him not to leave the country. But he ignored them, and was believed to have moved with his money to a small resort town of pastel houses on Spain’s Mediterranean coast. Now Mr. Kuzminov, 28 at the time of his defection, appears to have met the harsh fate Ukrainian officials warned of. Two Spanish police officials with knowledge of the case said the body of a man found riddled with bullets last week in the coastal town of Villajoyosa belonged to Mr. Kuzminov.

Persons: Maksim Kuzminov, Vladimir V, Kuzminov Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Villajoyosa

☆ U.S. Prepares ‘Major Sanctions’ Against Russia Over Navalny’s Death
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Erica L. Green | More About Erica L. Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration is preparing “major sanctions” against Moscow in response to the death of the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, a White House official said on Tuesday. John F. Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, said the sanctions would be announced on Friday. President Biden has said there is “no doubt” that Vladimir V. Putin’s government was behind the death of Mr. Navalny. “Whatever story the Russian government decides to tell the world, it’s clear that President Putin and his government are responsible for Mr. Navalny’s death,” Mr. Kirby told reporters on Tuesday. Mr. Kirby declined to detail what would be included in the sanctions package, but said it would be devised to “hold Russia accountable for what happened to Mr. Navalny and, quite frankly, for all its actions over the course of this vicious and brutal war that has now raged on for two years.”

Persons: Biden, Aleksei A, John F, Kirby, Vladimir V, Navalny, Putin, Navalny’s, ” Mr, ” Organizations: White, National Security Council, Mr Locations: Moscow, Russian, Russia

☆ Navalny’s mother asks Putin to release her son’s body in video filmed outside Arctic penal colony
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Joshua Berlinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Alexey Navalny’s family has made a direct plea to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the release of the Russian dissident’s body, five days after he died behind bars in a penal colony. Standing in the snow outside the facility where her son was imprisoned, Lyudmila Navalnaya addressed Putin directly, saying she has not been told where Navalny’s body is. Navalny’s lawyer tried to call a number on the building’s door, but he was told the body was not there. Navalny’s lawyer tried to call a number on the building’s door, but he was told the body was not there. Two days later, Navalnaya was rebuffed in person at the morgue, Yarmish said, adding that staff refused to say whether the body was inside.

Persons: CNN — Alexey Navalny’s, Vladimir Putin, Lyudmila Navalnaya, Putin, ” Navalnaya, Navalny, Navalny “, ”, Navalnaya, Kira Yarmish, Yarmish, Navalny’s, Novichok, Yulia Navalnaya, “, Dmitry Peskov, Alexey, Don’t, Oleg, ministry’s, Oleg Navalny Organizations: CNN, Staff, European Union Foreign Affairs, EU, Munich Locations: Russian, Putin’s, Soviet, Russia, Germany

☆ Navalny Is Dead, but Putin Can’t Kill His Vision of the Future - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Nadya Tolokonnikova | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I hear my quiet voice join others screaming, “Russia without Putin.” We lock our arms and together push the police out of the street. He gave us something else, too: a vision he called the “beautiful Russia of the future.” This vision is immortal, unlike us humans. President Vladimir Putin may have silenced Aleksei, who died last week. But no matter how hard he tries, Mr. Putin won’t be able to kill Aleksei’s beautiful dream. For all of us in that packed room, Aleksei made it feel not only that a free Russia was possible but also that we could get there with joy, laughter and camaraderie.

Persons: Putin, Aleksei Navalny, Aleksei, Vladimir Putin, Putin won’t, Young, ” Organizations: Mr Locations: Moscow, Russia

☆ Trump Breaks Silence on Navalny Death, but Doesn’t Condemn Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Days after the death of the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny was first reported, Donald J. Trump broke his silence in a social media post on Monday that barely mentioned Mr. Navalny and that did not condemn President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Instead, he used Mr. Navalny’s death to suggest that his own legal battles amounted to political persecution. It was a note he hit first on Sunday, when he shared screenshots of an opinion essay that compared his relationship with President Biden to the one between Mr. Navalny and Mr. Putin. “The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” the former president wrote on Truth Social on Monday, using an alternative spelling of Mr. Navalny’s given name. Instead, Mr. Trump cited “Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions” in casting the U.S., in all capital letters, as a “nation in decline, a failing nation.”

Persons: Aleksei A, Navalny, Donald J, Trump, Vladimir V, Putin, Biden, Alexei Navalny, Navalny’s, ” Organizations: Prosecutors Locations: Russia, United States

The GOP has been softening its stance on Russia ever since Trump won the 2016 election following Russian hacking of his Democratic opponents. Now the GOP's ambivalence on Russia has stalled additional aid to Ukraine at a pivotal time in the war. Things are changing just not fast enough.”Those who oppose additional Ukraine aid bristle at charges that they are doing Putin's handiwork. Even before Trump, Republican voters were signaling discontent with overseas conflicts, said Douglas Kriner, a political scientist at Cornell University. Skeptics of Ukraine aid argue the war has already decimated the Russian military and that Putin won't be able to target other European countries.

Persons: Republican Sen, Ron Johnson of, Vladimir Putin, “, Johnson, “ Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Putin, Mike Johnson, ”, “ Putin, ” Republican Sen, Thom Tillis, Mitch McConnell of, Alexei Navalny, Joe Biden, Tillis, ” Johnson, Missouri Sen, Eric Schmitt, ” Alabama Sen, Tommy Tuberville, Tucker Carlson’s, Matt Gaetz, Trump, Douglas Kriner, ” Kriner, ” Trump, didn’t, Olga Kamenchuk, ” Kamenchuk, That’s, “ He's, he's, ” Henry Hale, Russell Vought, Sergey Radchenko, Joey Cappelletti, Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro Organizations: Republican, GOP, Trump, Democratic, Republicans, NATO, ” Republican, Republican Party, ”, Cornell University, Northwestern University, Ukraine, Pew Research, George Washington University, Management, Center, Johns Hopkins ’ School, International Studies, Associated Press Locations: Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Europe, U.S, North Carolina, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, America, Missouri, ” Alabama, Waterford Township , Michigan, ” Russia, “, Moscow, Soviet Union, Putin's U.S, Israel, Taiwan, Western Europe, Soviet, Lithuania, Estonia, Washington

☆ As Putin Threatens, Despair and Hedging in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( David E. Sanger | Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the leaders of the West gathered in Munich over the past three days, President Vladimir V. Putin had a message for them: Nothing they’ve done so far — sanctions, condemnation, attempted containment — would alter his intentions to disrupt the current world order. Aleksei Navalny’s suspicious death in a remote Arctic prison made ever clearer that Mr. Putin will tolerate no dissent as elections approach. And the American discovery, disclosed in recent days, that Mr. Putin may be planning to place a nuclear weapon in space — a bomb designed to wipe out the connective tissue of global communications if Mr. Putin is pushed too far — was a potent reminder of his capacity to strike back at his adversaries with the asymmetric weapons that remain a key source of his power. In Munich, the mood was both anxious and unmoored, as leaders faced confrontations they had not anticipated. Warnings about Mr. Putin’s possible next moves were mixed with Europe’s growing worries that it could soon be abandoned by the United States, the one power that has been at the core of its defense strategy for 75 years.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Aleksei Navalny’s, Mr, Putin’s Locations: Munich, Russia, Ukraine, Avdiivka, United States

☆ Cheney warns of Republican Party ‘Putin wing’ after Navalny death
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Jack Forrest | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —GOP former Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday warned of a Republican Party “Putin wing” after former President Donald Trump responded to the death of outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny without actually mentioning him or Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We have to take seriously the extent to which you’ve now got a Putin wing of the Republican Party. Biden, in his comments at the White House following the announcement of Navalny’s death, forcefully pinned the blame on “Putin and his thugs.”“Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. “When you think about Donald Trump, for example, pledging retribution, what Vladimir Putin did to Navalny is what retribution looks like in a country where a leader is not subject to the rule of law,” Cheney said Sunday.

Persons: Liz Cheney, “, Donald Trump, Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin, you’ve, Putin, ” Cheney, Jake Tapper, Joe Biden, Trump, Biden, “ Putin, ”, ” Biden, Jens Stoltenberg, “ He’s, GOP Sen, Tim Scott of, ” Scott, Scott, CNN’s Kit Maher, Avery Lotz Organizations: CNN, GOP, Republican, “ Putin, Putin, Republican Party, West, White, Union, NATO, “, Sunday, Trump Locations: “ State, Russian, Russia, United States, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Ukraine, America

☆ Russia takes Avdiivka from Ukraine, biggest gain in 9 months
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A general view of smoke rising from the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant on Feb. 15, 2023 in Avdiivka district, Ukraine. Russia on Sunday said it had full control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka after Ukraine withdrew though Moscow said that some Ukrainian troops were still holed up in a vast Soviet-era coke plant after one of the most intense battles of the war. Ukraine said it had withdrawn its soldiers to save troops from being fully surrounded after months of fierce fighting. Putin hailed the fall of Avdiivka as an important victory and congratulated Russian troops. "The head of state congratulated Russian soldiers on this success, an important victory," the Kremlin said in a statement on its website.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Igor Konashenkov Organizations: Chemical, Russian Defence Ministry Locations: Avdiivka district, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Moscow, Soviet, Bakhmut, Russian

☆ The Death Throes of a Ukrainian City
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Marc Santora | Tyler Hicks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even from a few miles away, the death rattle of another Ukrainian city echoed through the mist and fog. Russian warplanes were dropping more thousand-pound bombs on Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, reducing an already battered city to rubble and ashes. Since Jan. 1, President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces have dropped around one million pounds of aerial bombs on an area encompassing just 12 square miles, according to estimates by Ukrainian officials and British intelligence. In the end, Russia’s superior firepower and manpower overwhelmed Ukrainian forces over many months, even as Russia incurred a staggering number of casualties. Russian warplanes bombed the hulking coke-processing plant on Avdiivka’s northern outskirts, using incendiary munitions to blow up fuel tanks at the plant, unleashing a toxic smog, according to Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the plant.

Persons: Vladimir V, Avdiivka Organizations: Ukrainian Locations: Ukraine, British, Russia

☆ Haley Calls Navalny a ‘Hero,’ Saying Trump Must Answer for His Death
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Jazmine Ulloa | More About Jazmine Ulloa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nikki Haley on Saturday called Aleksei A. Navalny, the outspoken Russian opposition leader, “a hero” and amped up the pressure on former President Donald J. Trump to respond to the news of his death. She said Mr. Navalny had died at the hands of President Vladimir V. Putin and that Mr. Trump needed to “answer to that.”Speaking with reporters outside her rally at a park in Irmo, S.C., Ms. Haley praised Mr. Navalny for calling out Mr. Putin for corruption and fixing elections. “And Trump needs to answer to that. Does he think Putin killed him? Does he think Putin was right to kill him?

Persons: Nikki Haley, Aleksei A, “, ”, Donald J, Trump, Navalny, Vladimir V, Putin, Haley, Mr, —, Ms Organizations: United Nations, Mr Locations: Irmo, South Carolina

☆ The crack Ukrainian assault brigade sent to launch counterattacks around Avdiivka has a murky past
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewUkraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade has been deployed to support the withdrawal from the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk Oblast, announced on Saturday. "Despite the fact that the occupiers are suffering disproportionate losses, the situation in Avdiivka remains extremely difficult," said the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade's Telegram account. Footage from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. In 2023, Biletsky said there was "no split" between the Azov Brigade and the 3rd Assault Brigade," Ukrainska Pravda reported. I am grateful to everyone for their resilience," said the commander of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, on Telegram.

Persons: —, …, Naz, tim e, sid, s of, liv Organizations: Service, Brigade, Institute for, Business, Separate Assault Brigade, kr, Unt Locations: Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Russian, Ukrainian

☆ From Frigid Cells to Mystery Injections, Prison Imperiled Navalny’s Health
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Paul Sonne | Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Aleksei A. Navalny portrayed himself as invincible, consistently using his hallmark humor to suggest that President Vladimir V. Putin couldn’t break him, no matter how dire his conditions became in prison. But behind the brave face, the reality was plain to see. Since his incarceration in early 2021, Mr. Navalny, Russia’s most formidable opposition figure, and his staff regularly suggested his conditions were so grim that he was being put to death in slow motion. The cause of Mr. Navalny’s death in prison at 47 has not been established — in fact his family has not yet even been allowed to see his body — but Russia’s harshest penal colonies are known for hazardous conditions, and Mr. Navalny was singled out for particularly brutal treatment. “As Navalny’s doctor told me: the body cannot withstand this.”

Persons: Aleksei A, Navalny, Vladimir V, Putin, Navalny’s, “ Aleksei Navalny, Dmitri A, Muratov, ” Locations: Russian

☆ Putin saw an existential threat in Navalny, the opposition leader whose name he dared not mention
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Alexey Navalny once represented an alternative future for Russia: an optimistic, forward-looking place, free of the one-man rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It would be hard to overstate how profoundly Navalny symbolized Putin’s relentless drive to erase the last remnants of political opposition from Russia. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat followed was a parody of criminal justice, as Russian prosecutors heaped on charges against Navalny, who continued to rail against Putin. Navalny had emerged as the most prominent leader of the Russian opposition following the assassination of outspoken Putin critic Boris Nemtsov in 2015, in plain view of the Kremlin. Putin famously refused to utter Navalny’s name, hinting at the deep unease about the legitimacy Navalny commanded as opposition leader.

Persons: CNN — Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Navalny, Alexei Navalny, Kirill Kudryavtsev, gaunt, “, ” Navalny, –, ”, I’m, Yulia, Vasily Maximov, Putin, Boris Nadezhdin, Boris Nemtsov, Nemtsov, Lyubov Sobol, Mikheil Saakashvili –, Ukraine’s, Saakashvili, ’ ” Organizations: CNN, Getty, Putin, IK, Valentine’s, “, Twitter Locations: Russia, Moscow, Berlin, AFP, Kharp, Autonomous Okrug, Ukraine, Russian, Navalny, Kyiv’s

☆ Opinion | The Best Case for Ukraine Aid
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The first year of the war in Ukraine seemed to vindicate Russia hawks. The second year of war has been kinder to realists and doves. Russia, as in many wars before, seems stronger in a grinding conflict than it did in the initial thrusts. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian counteroffensive of spring and summer failed: A year ago there was still hope that a Russian retreat would turn into a rout, but since then stalemate has ruled the front. The changed situation has created a division in the hawkish argument, visible as the U.S. Congress wrangles over further aid to Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Russia’s, Aleksei Navalny, Thom Tillis, he’ll, Mike Turner Organizations: U.S . Congress, Republican, Ukraine, NATO, Capitol, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, North Carolina, American, Ohio

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called on world leaders not to abandon his country, citing the recent death of a Russian dissident as a reminder that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would continue to test the international order, and pushing back against the idea of a negotiated resolution to the war. Mr. Zelensky, speaking on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, said that if Ukraine lost the war to Russia, it would be “catastrophic” not only for Kyiv, but for other nations as well. “Please do not ask Ukraine when the war will end,” he said. “Ask yourself why is Putin still able to continue it.”The two topics that have loomed over nearly every discussion at the yearly meeting of world leaders have been Russia and the potential weakening of trans-Atlantic relations, amid an increasingly pessimistic assessment of Kyiv’s ability to beat Moscow.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir V, Putin, ” Organizations: Munich Security, Kyiv, Moscow Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Russia

☆ U.S. Fears Russia Might Put a Nuclear Weapon in Space
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( David E. Sanger | Julian E. Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Russia conducted a series of secret military satellite launches around the time of its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, American intelligence officials began delving into the mystery of what, exactly, the Russians were doing. Later, spy agencies discovered Russia was working on a new kind of space-based weapon that could threaten the thousands of satellites that keep the world connected. In recent weeks, a new warning has circulated from America’s spy agencies: Another launch may be in the works, and the question is whether Russia plans to use it to put a real nuclear weapon into space — a violation of a half-century old treaty. The agencies are divided on the likelihood that President Vladimir V. Putin would go so far, but nonetheless the intelligence is an urgent concern to the Biden administration. Even if Russia does place a nuclear weapon in orbit, U.S. officials are in agreement in their assessment that the weapon would not be detonated.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Biden Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Navalny’s Challenge to Putin’s Russia - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

This treatment of Mr. Navalny’s death — with the gravity usually reserved for a national crisis — flies in the face of the government charade that he was nothing more than a crook or could be discredited by calling him a terrorist, extremist and Nazi, as the trumped-up charges that sent him to the labor camp implied. Instead, the official reactions inadvertently confirmed what Mr. Putin had tried so hard to conceal: that Mr. Navalny’s ceaseless accusations of corruption and misrule were a serious political challenge to Mr. Putin’s dictatorial rule. And that in death, Mr. Navalny could become even more dangerous. Unlike his Soviet predecessors in the Kremlin, who could draw on a universalist ideology to justify repression, Mr. Putin has had to build his personal rule on an illusion of democracy while fixing elections, bending the courts to his will and allowing massive corruption. Instead of criminalizing opposition as “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda,” Mr. Putin must combat principled dissent, like Mr. Navalny’s, with concocted labels like “foreign agent” or “terrorism.”

Persons: Alexei Navalny crusaded, Vladimir Putin, Navalny’s, Putin, ”, Mr, Navalny Organizations: Nazi, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Chelyabinsk, United States, Europe

☆ Opinion: The best tribute we can pay to Navalny
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Opinion Daniel Treisman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In his courageous and too short life, Navalny became a symbol of hope for the younger generations of his compatriots. Rather than attack Navalny as a political rival, the authorities peddled a concocted image of Navalny as a petty swindler. Navalny’s death will leave a gaping hole at the center of Russia’s opposition movement, already fragmented and scattered across the globe. To Western leaders who have called on Russia to respect human rights, Navalny’s death is an open affront. A year ago, while he was serving his sentence, Navalny called for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine — and pay it compensation — with posts from his Twitter account.

Persons: Daniel Treisman, Sergei Guriev, Alexey Navalny, Putin, ”, Navalny, Navalny’s, ” Putin, Tucker Carlson, Yaroslav the Wise, Novichok, “, Boris Nadezhdin, Joe Biden, “ Putin, —, Sergei Magnitsky, Biden, ” Navalny Organizations: University of California, CNN, Navalny’s, Kremlin, Federal Security Service, Putin, Navalny, Republicans, Ukraine — Locations: Los Angeles, Russia, Soviet Union, Moscow, Russian, Ukrainian, ”, Europe, Ukraine

☆ Analysis: Death of leading critic Navalny is a reminder of Putin’s paranoia
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It is the why that is already the largest question, after the untimely death of Alexey Navalny. And with his death, Putin is in a riskier position. The Prigozhin death, critics of the Kremlin, had felt, was to some degree inevitable. He has long been a Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty ImagesNavalny’s death is a reminder of Putin’s paranoia. Does it speak of a man burdened by worry, and happy to endure the global outrage of Navalny’s death if it removes the tiniest possible risks to his rule?

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Putin, Navalny, Kamala Harris, Alexei Navalny, Vera Savina, Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Boris Berezovsky, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, ”, Alexander Nemenov, Putin’s Organizations: Germany CNN, Kremlin, Munich Security, NATO, IK, Police, Getty, Putin Locations: Munich, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, AFP, London, Moscow, Putin’s

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