Ivan Philippov
16.02.2024
Today, in a Russian prison in the far north, Vladimir Putin killed Alexei Navalny.
After the assassination attempt, Alexey returned to Russia. On his own. Because if he hadn’t come back, he wouldn’t have been Navalny. In a world of endless fakes, he was real. He loved his country, fought against crooks, ate doshirak, made funny jokes. He made unfunny jokes. Watched Rick and Morty. He quarreled with his colleagues. He irritated even his closest supporters with his intractability or harshness. Inspired. He talked nonsense, admitted mistakes, apologized.
He was uncompromising. For several decades, he fought for the country he loved more than anything in the world. For the truth, for fair elections. For the opportunity to live freely. For a cozy Russia. Not for the “great” one, but for the cozy one. In which a person is treated with respect.
He was imprisoned, doused with green paint, beaten, poisoned, they tried to kill him , all imaginable and unimaginable things were said about him and his family, but he still stood his ground. He smiled and told us that everything would be fine. And I believed that everything would be fine. And he believed that love would win. That good will win.
In a world where it was possible to negotiate with anyone, he did not negotiate. In Putin’s Russia, he was one of the very few who was, and did not seem to be. Who was the real one. Who could be considered a moral authority, no matter how pathetic it sounded. I am sure that Navalny himself would never have agreed with such an assessment, but it’s true…
It is absolutely impossible to imagine a world without him.
Alexei Navalny was a symbol of hope for change. For a better future. It was and always will be.
And now it feels like we all have a “blood clot come off.” Or we’ve lost it. And falling, falling…
But this is not the case.
Hi, this is Navalny. Do not lower your eyes. Do not despair. Russia should be not only free, but also happy. Russia will be happy. That’s all.
