Opposition’s Fall in Putin's Russia
For years Putin has been imprisoning and exiling his critics, whether they be journalists, activists, or politicians, most of them have disappeared. While leaving is a safer option, Russian state media is easily able to make those in exile out to be traitors, working with the West, as if they were Soviet defectors. Two major opposition politicians, Alexei Navalny and Vladamir Kara-Murza have been arrested. Along with them, hundreds of other opposition politicians have been arrested since the start of his reign. Since the start of the Ukrainian invasion alone, over 15,000 Russians have been arrested for protesting the war. Putin’s crackdown on those who oppose or humiliate him, such as the arrest and firing of many of the FSB agents who were responsible for gathering intelligence on Ukraine, is not the first time mass arrests have occurred, and it certainly will not be the last, especially given that his term is not supposed to end until 2024.
Most recently, on April 12th, Vladimir Kara-Murza, VKM, was arrested by Putin for speaking out against the invasion of Ukraine. He is a prominent opposition politician, one who was a colleague of the late Boris Nemstov. He was poisoned twice, once in 2015, and again in 2017, both times he was left in a coma, but he survived and came back to protest Putin’s regime. Hours after CNN showed an interview featuring him where he suggested that the war in Ukraine would lead to the end of Putin’s reign, he was arrested. Although he will only be detained for 15 days, it is likely false charges will be put against him, similar to other prominent opposition politicians, such as Navalny’s false charges of embezzlement.
Alexei Navalny was also poisoned in 2020, and it is considered to have been done by Putin’s agents, however the poisoning failed and he survived as well. Despite being poisoned and in danger, he returned to Russia once he recovered, only to be immediately arrested by police. After his arrest, protests erupted across Russia, especially in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which led to a heavy crackdown on both the people and Navalny’s colleagues. Putin was determined to keep him exiled, using fear tactics, similar to his threats on Finland and Sweden when they displayed interest in joining NATO. Along with encouraging protests and anti-Putin ideals, Navalny made many long and detailed documentaries, one of them was called ‘Putin’s palace’. It was an in depth analysis of a secret $1.37 billion property made for Putin by the oligarchs. Many of his videos get around a million views, this one received over one hundred million views before being deleted off the internet.
Similar to Navalny, Kara-Murza made a documentary about Boris Nemstov, who was killed within view of the Kremlin, on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge. Nemstov was another prominent opposition politician, previously a Deputy Prime Minister. He was a major critic of Putin’s government, and organized protests, one was supposed to occur the day after his murder. A Russian jury found five Chechens guilty of the murder, however evidence shows that it was an assassination carried out by the Russian government.
Anyone who speaks out against Putin risks exile, slander, and death. Even journalists face the same pressure, with many independent media outlets being labeled as foreign agents. Many people and companies face this label, which requires them to “disclose their funding, undergo audits, and [accompany any publications with a caption of ‘foreign agent’]”. Putin has crushed any and all opposition to him, no matter who they are, they get punished. He has begun being tougher and more extreme since the start of the Ukraine war, forcing the narrative that Russia is in the right and is winning. Anyone who says otherwise faces exile or arrest.