Russia’s main opposition figure Alexei Navalny remains gravely ill after what his supporters say was a poisoning recently ordered by the Kremlin.
Navalny, who rose to prominence in 2008 when he began to publicly accuse the Kremlin of widespread corruption, has called President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party one of “crooks and thieves.” Navalny was banned from running in the 2018 presidential election over accusations of embezzlement – a claim rejected by Navalny and rights groups. In this episode of The Stream we ask, how viable is a Russian opposition? What motivation is there for Russians to join an opposition movement? And, in a self-declared democracy, can more challengers to Putin emerge?
