Today we are talking about Alexey Navalny’s tragic death in a Russian prison.

We are talking about a political murder with direct roots in the Soviet past.

This chain of political murders – of deaths of political prisoners in labour camps and prisons – reveals its criminal continuity.

Alexey Navalny — 47 years old, Russian politician, social activist, lawyer. Died on February 16, 2024, in a penal colony in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Vasyl Stus — 47 years old, Ukrainian poet. Died on September 4, 1985, in a punishment cell of the Perm labour camp.

Anatoly Marchenko — 49 years old, writer, human rights defender. Died on December 8, 1986, in the Chistopol prison.

The Russian regime is trying to take this vast country and millions of its citizens back to the “great Soviet Yesterday”. Its methods — violence, aggression, the lack of freedom for millions and the murders of political prisoners.

The death of Alexey Navalny is a tragedy not only for his family, friends and colleagues but also for everyone who wants Russia to become a democratic country which is not a threat to the world around us. For those who want the war to end and the Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine.

His death is another crime of the Putin regime, and the guilty must be punished. The best we can do now is to remember Alexey Navalny’s farewell words to supporters in case of his murder “Do not give up!”

17.02.2024