Alexei Navalny
The biggest threat to Russia is President Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship, said jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, in his first comments since an aborted Wagner mutiny.
“There is no bigger threat to Russia than Putin’s regime”, Navalny posted on social media.
“Putin’s regime is so dangerous to the country that even its inevitable demise will create the threat of civil war”, he continued.
“The fact that the war started by Putin could destroy and break up Russia is no longer a dramatic statement”, he added.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, led to Russia’s worst political crisis in decades.
Prigozhin, who had a long-running conflict with Russia’s military leadership over the war, ordered his soldiers to march on Moscow, before unexpectedly commanding them to stop.
Navalny stated, “It is not the West or the opposition that shot down Russian helicopters over Russia… that put Russia on the threshold of a civil war”.
He further said, “Putin did this himself. He personally pardoned all of these inmates who were headed to murder (Defence Minister Sergei) Shoigu and whoever else they wanted to kill”.
He went on to say, “Today we understand clearly: the band of Putin supporters is ready to start a war against anyone at any moment”.
“That’s why it’s extremely important to remember that any post-Putin transition must include free elections”, he continued.
“It is not democracy, human rights, and parliament that undermine authorities and lead to turmoil. It’s dictators and the usurpation of power that lead to disorder, weak government, and chaos. Always”, Navalny added.
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