Re: Russia Watch Thread
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2024 4:02 pm
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Read more here: https://www.vox.com/24078537/yulia-nav ... i-navanly(Vox) Russian dissident Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, announced Monday that she would take up her husband’s crusade against President Vladimir Putin following his death while in prison.
“I have no right to give up,” Navalnaya said in a video address Monday. “I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny. I will continue to fight for our country, and I urge you to stand next to me.”
Navalny campaigned against the Kremlin for more than a decade following widespread anger over Putin’s 2011 move to retake power. He was Putin’s most internationally known critic, and was the most recognizable to Russians, too, despite Putin’s refusal to say his name. In what amounts to an opposition in Russia, Navalny was essentially the only figure with broad name recognition.
Now, Navalnaya will take up that mantle, but it’s not clear how far the Navalnys’ fight for a free Russia can go under such brutal repression — and with its most charismatic leaders either dead or in exile.
Who is Yulia Navalnaya?
Because of her husband’s work, Navalnaya has been in the public eye for over a decade — not exactly as a political wife or first lady figure, but more as a quiet, stoic partner, although she was a critical part of Alexey’s political activism as his closest adviser. That was intentional on her part; she supported her husband’s activism but wanted to make sure their children were well-adjusted.
One problem that arises in all too many of these cases is that resorting to more violent methods pretty much paves the way for successor leaders to emerge that in turn become as authoritarian as the governments they displace. One of the great accomplishments of the U.S. revolution was to avoid that trap. This was in no small part because of how government had already come to be operating at the local level. It was more a matter of establishing a federation of state governments while making sure that the central government thus formed stayed within certain bounds. These state governments had already been functioning as colonies that were in some ways remarkably free of excessive central government interference. At least until the British crown pressed the matter.firestar464 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 6:03 pm Participating in sham elections and protesting won't do much.
Burmese people learned that in 2021. And now change of strategy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-6838440253 minutes ago
Alexei Navalny's mother has been told to agree to a "secret" burial for the Putin critic within three hours, Mr Navalny's spokeswoman says.
Otherwise, she was told, he would be buried at the Arctic Circle penal colony where he died a week ago.
Mr Navalny's mother has said she has been forced to sign a death certificate saying he died of natural causes.
But Mr Navalny's widow, Yulia, has said he was killed on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has denied the allegations, calling Western reaction to the death "hysterical".
Further extract:(Eurekalert) “There’s a narrative out there about climate change that says there are winners and losers. Even if most of the planet might lose from the changing climate, certain industries and countries stand to benefit. And Russia is usually at the tip of people’s tongues, with Russian officials even making the claim that Russia is a potential winner.”
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1035217“We asked ourselves,” Javeline said of her research team, “does Russia stand to benefit from climate change? Are the claims made by the Russian government officials accurate in that it does benefit them?”
…
Environmental impacts already occurring in Russia include flooding, heat waves, drought and wildfires that affect not only communities, but agriculture, forestry and water resources as well. “Russia is one of the world’s most important producers and exporters of grains,” said Wengle, an expert on Russian agriculture. “What this means is that the effects of climate change on Russian farms are a concern not only for Russians, but for everyone concerned with global markets for commodity crops and global food security.”
Global warming has had a huge influence on Russia’s permafrost, which is now thawing at alarming rates. What was once considered permanently frozen, stable ground is now defrosting, shifting and causing tremendous damage. The study pointed to increased flooding, landslides, caving or sinking of ground that supports existing infrastructures — resulting in cracked foundations and compromised shelters.
“Some Russian cities in high-latitude regions report infrastructure damage from thawing permafrost and soil instability for up to 80 percent of buildings and for pipelines,” the researchers discovered.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 05614.html10 hours ago
Thousands of people gathered in Moscow on Friday to pay tribute to Alexei Navalny during his funeral, defying a heavy police presence and warnings from the Kremlin of arrests.
Navalny, 47, was Vladimir Putin’s chief opponent and was pronounced dead on 16 February at the Arctic prison where he was serving a decades-long prison sentence on what many believe were trumped-up charges.
Western leaders have lined up to lay responsibility for Navalny's death. His wife, Yulia, has directly called out the Russian leader for killing him.
Outside the Soothe My Sorrows church in southeast Moscow, people began to gather hours before the funeral. Among the large crowd, many clutched bunches of flowers and some joined in a series of chants: “Russia will be free”, “No to war”, “Russia without Putin”, “We won’t forgive” and “Putin is a murderer”.
“There are more than 10,000 people here, and no one is afraid,” Kamila, a young woman in the crowd said. “We came here in order to honour the memory of a man who also wasn’t afraid, who wasn’t afraid of anything.”