Making matters worse for 44-year-old Russian dissident Aliexi Navalny, 79-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) accused the Kremlin of trying to kill Navalny in prison. Sanders knows that the only thing killing Navalny is his March 31 hunger strike, refusing food-and-drink for over two weeks. Officials at the IK-2 penal colony 100 kilometers [62 miles] east of Moscow in Pokrov said Navalny was transferred today to a prison hospital where he’ll receive intravenous hydration and vitamin treatment. “Make no misstate about what is happening here: Activist Aleix Navalny is being murdered in front of the world by Vladimir Putin for the crime of exposing Putin’s corruption. Navalny’s doctors must be allowed to see him immendiately,” Sanders said, knowing that it would infuriate Putin and the Kremlin. President Joe Biden, 78, and 58-year-old Secretary of State Tony Blinken have also demanded Navalny’s release.
Biden and U.S. elected officials have excoriated Putin for arresting, charging, convicting and sentencing Navalny to two-years.-eight months in Russian prison. Can you imagine Putin or Kremlin officials demanding that Biden release certain incarcerated U.S. revolutionaries? Biden and others have accused Putin of meddling in U.S. elections and democracy. What does Sanders think he’s doing accusing a sovereign leader of murdering a known revolutionary? Whatever medically is wrong with Navalny, his over two-week long hunger strike hasn’t helped his condition. Putin has nothing to do with Navalny’s decision March 31 to stop eating and drinking. Navalny’s doctor said he could “die at any time,” but not saying that he was dying of malnutrition and dehydration from his huger strike. Before that, Navalny complained about back pain and leg numbness, maybe related to his Aug. 24, 2929 Novichok poisoning.
Sanders thinks that keeping pressure on Putin and the Kremlin can only help spring Navalny early from prison. But, in reality, Sanders’ accusations only make Putin and the Kremlin more determined than ever to keep Navalny in prison. Sanders calls Navalny an anti-corruption activist but actually he seeks to topple Putin’s government. His chief of staff Leonid Volkov has called for his clandestine network to stage street demonstrations around the country this week. Sanders is the first to rejects alleged Russian meddling in U.S. affairs but thinks nothing or ordering Putin and the Kremlin to release Navalny from prison. Sanders comments together with Biden and Blinken have adverse consequences on U.S. national security, not to mention the national security of other European countries. Putin’s recently amassed some 150,000 troops near the Ukrainian border in eastern Ukraine.
Antagonizing Putin has made U.S.-Russian relations all but impossible, putting Putin on a war footing especially in Ukraine. Putin’s well-aware that Biden, Blinken and now Sanders back a known revolutionary like Navalny seeking to topple Putin 22-year reign of power. When you think of Navalny’s worth to the U.S. he has no value at all other than a fake promise to get rid of Putin. Sanders was just the latest politician to shoot off his mouth about Putin. Yesterday, 43-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron said that the EU must set “red lines” when it comes to Putin in Ukraine. Macron knows that the EU or NATO did nothing March 1, 2014 when Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine. If Putin seizes more territory in Ukraine now, the EU can NATO will do nothing other than jump up-and-down. Sanders remarks are almost as bad as Biden who called Putin March 16 as “soulless killer.”
When you consider Navalny’s in state custody for the duration of his sentence, you’d think that foreign officials would like to see him come out alive. Biden, Blinken and Sander’s public remarks make matters worse for Navalny, a dissident who survived a Novichok poisoning last summer, only to return to Moscow to martyr himself. Meddling in Russia’s internal affairs doesn’t play well with Putin and the Kremlin, now on a war footing, ready for any contingency in Ukraine. Had Biden and Blinken played their cards more carefully with Putin, they’d have a lot more leverage. As it stands now, Putin’s gearing up for a fight, especially with Navalny’s clandestine group seeking to spread street demonstrations around the country. Had Biden been more careful, he’d have Putin cooperating on a host of hot spots around the globe, especially in Iran where the Ayatollah’s enriching uranium to 60%.
Sanders’ attack on Putin only makes things worse for Navalny, dealing with a two-year-eight-month prison sentence. If Navalny stops his temper tantrum and accepts his fate in a Russian penal colony, he has a reasonable shot of getting out. Continuing to infuriate Putin and the Kremlin has made Navalny’s stay more problematic. Whatever health problems Navalny has now they’re largely due to his over two week hunger strike leaving him in a weakened state. Since entering the IK-2 penal colony March 2, Navalny has let his handlers post his complaints on Facebook and Instagram, keeping himself relevant in the news. Accusing Putin of “murdering” Navalny for the whole world to see, Sanders makes life in prison more difficult for the Russian dissident. Biden and Blinken can’t sacrifice U.S.-Russian relations because of a Russian revolutionary that has no real relevance to U.S. national security.
