Alexei Navalny: The anti-Putin the Kremlin can’t neutralise
Anti-corruption crusader has built formidable grassroots movement in Russia and dreams of becoming president. Putin has other ideas
Eyewitness footage captures the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny had earlier attended a rally urging supporters to boycott the Russian presidential election in March, which he claims is rigged. Video: Reuters
When Alexei Navalny greeted viewers on his YouTube channel, broadcast this week, the Russian anti-corruption crusader and staunch Kremlin foe joked – not for the first time – that it was remarkable he was not in jail.
Widely considered as the only opposition activist charismatic enough to present a serious challenge to Vladimir Putin, Navalny has been detained four times by police in the last year alone and served two prison sentences for violating Russian demonstration laws. He has also come under attack from unidentified assailants including a man who doused him with a toxic green dye that almost cost him the sight of one eye.