It’s Putin’s ‘brutality’
Joe, Kamala join world leaders’ outrage over Navalny’s fate
Officials in the U.S. and around the world responded with outrage to the reported death of the imprisoned Russian political activist Alexei Navalny on Friday, with President Biden declaring that President Vladimir Putin is “responsible for Navalny's death.”
Biden acknowledged that Navalny's reported death had not been confirmed by the U.S., but said he had no reason to doubt it, pointing to a litany of Russian government efforts to silence the courageous Kremlin critic in recent years.
“Putin does not only target citizens of other countries,” Biden said in remarks at the White House, referencing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “He also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people.”
At the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Kamala Harris said the U.S. was working to verify the death, but “if confirmed, this would be a further sign of Putin's brutality.”
Leaders across the globe joined the White House in expressing dismay over Navalny's reported demise.
In a statement, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described Navalny as “the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy,” and said he “demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life.”
“My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy,” Sunak added.
Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service said Navalny grew sick after a walk at a Russian prison on Friday, and died despite the efforts of a medical team, according to the state-run Tass news agency.
The reported death of Navalny, perhaps Putin's most effective Russian critic, met with outcry even as some questioned the official account from the Russian government. Navalny's spokeswoman said she did not have confirmation of the death, and Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said the Russian government lies “constantly.”
Navalnaya said at the Munich Security Conference that she did not know whether to believe the reports, but that she hoped the Russian government would be “brought to justice.”
The news arrived one month ahead of Russia's next election. Even from jail, Navalny had been a thorn in Putin's side, using a punchy social media presence to malign the Russian president.
Navalny was 47. The charismatic and witty activist had long chastised Putin's government on a range of fronts, accusing the Kremlin of widespread corruption and flagrantly anti-democratic behavior.
His team published a 2021 report indicating Putin maintained a secret palace near the Black Sea. Referring to Navalny, Secretary of State Antony Blinken once said, “It is extraordinary how frightened Vladimir Putin seems to be of one man.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission's president, said Friday that the death underscored that Putin “fears nothing more than people that stand up, that speak up, that fight for freedom and that fight against corruption.”
“The world has lost a freedom fighter in Alexei Navalny,” she said in a video published by her office. “We will honor his name. And in his name, we will stand up for democracy.”
Navalny attempted to campaign against Putin in Russia's 2018 election, but was prevented from running.
In 2020, Navalny was poisoned and fell into a coma, a brush with death that he blamed on the Russian government. (The Kremlin denied involvement.) After receiving treatment in Germany, Navalny returned to Russia, where he was arrested and sentenced to prison in what the West has long seen as political retribution.
Former President Donald Trump, who is running to return to the White House and has sometimes praised Putin, did not immediately respond directly to Navalny's reported death.
But he wrote on his Truth Social platform that “America is no longer respected because we have an incompetent president who is weak and doesn't understand what the World is thinking.”
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador who is staging a long-shot challenge to Trump in the Republican presidential primary, lashed out at both Putin and Trump on Friday.
“Putin did this. The same Putin who Donald Trump praises and defends,” Haley said on social media. “The same Trump who said: ‘In all fairness to Putin, you're saying he killed people. I haven't seen that.'”
In New York, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said on social media that anyone who “values democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press must remain united against Putin's aggression.”
“Vladimir Putin is a ruthless dictator willing to do anything to silence those who oppose him,” the Albany Democrat wrote.
At the White House, Biden concluded his remarks by offering condolences to Navalny's family and supporters.
“God bless Alexei Navalny,” Biden said. “His courage will not be forgotten.”