Russian President Vladimir Putin's understanding of power is expressed through “murder, cruelty and revenge,” writes opposition activist Ilya Yashin. This is not the thinking of a statesman.
Jailed Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin has reiterated his determination to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin following the death of his friend Alexei Navalny. “As long as my heart beats in my chest, I will fight against tyranny,” Yashin wrote in a letter distributed on Tuesday. The 40-year-old also expressed his belief that Putin was responsible for Navalny's death.
Putin “ordered” Navalny’s assassination, Yashin wrote. He did not simply kill Navalny, but did so “demonstratively” so that “no one doubts Putin’s involvement,” especially in light of the upcoming presidential elections in March.
“Thinking about a gang leader”
In Putin's understanding, external power manifests itself through “murder, cruelty and revenge,” Yashin continued. This is not the thinking of a statesman, but of a “gang leader”.
Like Navalny, Yashin has been active in the Russian liberal opposition since the 2000s. He was also a staffer and friend of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015. “We had a common cause and dedicated our lives to making Russia peaceful, free and happy. Now my two friends are dead,” said Yashin, referring to Navalny and Nemtsov.
In April 2023, Yashin's sentence to eight and a half years in prison was confirmed. Yashin denounced the murder of civilians by the Russian army in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. In November, Yashin was transferred to the Safono penal colony, near the city of Smolensk in western Russia.
“Putin will remain a little man”
Yashin wrote about Navalny, who died last week, that he would go down in history as a “man of extraordinary courage” who “acted with a smile” for his convictions and “died a hero.” Russian President Putin, on the other hand, will continue to be a “small man” who “gained immense power by chance”. (APA/AFP)