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Alexei Navalny's death has serious implications for the opposition movement in Russia. Photo/Reuters
MOSCOW – The death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny means President Vladimir Putin's opponents have lost their most formidable leader and the man who, for some, embodied hopes of a better future in Russia.
Russia's prison service said Navalny, 47, collapsed and died on Friday after walking around in an Arctic penal colony, an assertion his allies and wife could not confirm.
Navalny has been by far the most prominent opposition leader since rising to international prominence during street protests in 2011, and some of his supporters believe he will eventually be free and become Russia's leader.
7 Impacts of Alexei Navalny's Death on the Opposition Movement against President Putin
1. Russian Opposition Groups Have No Leaders
Photo/Reuters
His death, if confirmed, would leave groups opposing Putin without a figurehead, and no clear candidate to try to turn discontent over his death into mass protests.
“This death is about all of us,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior researcher at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, as reported by Reuters. “About an indifferent society. About reckless cruelty. About the loss of hope.”
“Now our commander in chief has no competition – he is now Solus Rex, the only king,” he said.
2. Freedom of Opinion is Increasingly Restricted
Photo/Reuters
Prosecutors warned Russian citizens against participating in any mass protests in Moscow.
Police watched as several Russians came to lay roses and carnations at a monument to victims of Soviet repression in the shadow of the former KGB headquarters on Moscow's Lubyanka square.
At a vigil in Georgia's capital Tbilisi, where many of Navalny's supporters have sought refuge, hundreds of anti-Kremlin emigrants surrounded the closed Russian embassy in the city.
3. Building Hope for Russia's Future
Photo/Reuters