3 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: War in Ukraine Megathread
I just don't get it. Why the elaborate poisoning? Why not just disappear him? Why not lead a resistance movement from exile and pop in and out of the country incognito? I don't understand the whole dynamic of Putin playing James Bond villain/Dr. Evil or of Navalny playing the martyr part. It's like they're in this weird codependent conflict.
Comment by Rimfighter at 26/02/2022 at 02:26 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Russian Intelligence poisons people to strike fear in dissidents no matter where they are. They use poisons that can be directly traced back to the Russian State so that dissenters know who is targeting them (ie the specific Polonium^^210 isotope that killed Litvinenko occurs as a byproduct of Soviet RBMK reactors; Novichok is produced solely by the Russian state, Bellingcat did a deep-dive on the Navalny poisoning op here: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/12/14/fsb-team-of-chemical-weapon-experts-implicated-in-alexey-navalny-novichok-poisoning/[1] ). The method is a message. You’re never safe, so toe the line. That was true with Litvinenko, the Skripals, and Navalny.
Comment by -tiberius at 25/02/2022 at 03:17 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I don't know. I won't pretend to know much about Navalny outside a few years worth of BBC stories I've read. I know he has support and there are dissidents in Russia. He must be popular enough that outright killing him in an undeniable way just wouldn't work for Putin. Mass protests and ensuing crackdowns could erode Putin's support among more moderate Russians.
I would guess Navalny truly believes in principled opposition to Putin and is unwilling to turn from that path. Putin seems unwilling to openly murder Navalny. And so the dance continues.