Alexei Navalny’s Death: What It May Mean for Russia, Ukraine and the West

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – FEBRUARY 25: (RUSSIA OUT) Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny attends the Nemtsov March, a rally in memory of Boris Nemstov, former First Deputy Prime Minister, writer and opposition activist, killed 3 years ago at the bridge near the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, February 25, 2018. Russian opposition held rallies in Moscow and many other towns, gathered thousands suporters, prior to the Presidential Elections 2018 planned on March,18. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

Posted: February 16th, 2024

By Tom Nagorski

Tom Nagorski is the Managing Editor for The Cipher Brief. He previously served as Global Editor for Grid and served as ABC News Managing Editor for International Coverage as well as Senior Broadcast Producer for World News Tonight.

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — Yulia Navalnaya had come to the Munich Security Conference to urge the gathering of world leaders to think of her husband in their high-level meetings. Then came word that the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was dead. She said that for a moment, she considered leaving, “But then I thought, what would Alexei do in my place? And I’m sure he would be here. He would be on this stage.”

Officials in the Russian Arctic, where Navalny was serving a prison sentence, said he had “felt unwell” during a walk early Friday and died soon after. But Navalnaya and other world leaders laid the blame for her husband’s death squarely on the Kremlin.

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