U.S., Germany hail courage of Navalny

On the second anniversary of the poisoning attack on opposition figure Alexei Navalny, Germany and the United States hailed the determination of the Kremlin critic who is still imprisoned in Russia on charges those nations consider politically motivated.

“He barely survived the assassination attempt. He was able to recover in Germany,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a video message released Saturday, praising the Russian dissident’s bravery for going back to his homeland.

“I spoke with him during this time and got to know a courageous man who returned to Russia because he wanted to fight for democracy, freedom and the rule of law,” the chancellor added. “We should think about that now.”

The U.S. State Department called for the immediate release of Navalny and condemned the Russian government’s crackdown on opposition figures and independent media. Navalny is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most well-known critic and has detailed major incidents of corruption by his regime.

Navalny himself tweeted Saturday that “this is the second time I celebrate my second birthday. The day they tried to kill me, but for some reason I didn’t die.”

He also wrote that his case “has exposed both Putin himself and his system to such an extent that it has shown not only the criminality, but also the dysfunctionality and failure of his regime.”