What’s left of 46-year-old dissident Alexi Navalny’s anti-corruption group, his top aide Leonid Volkov makes contacts with the sympathetic press to make more fake news. Navalny took himself out of circulation after warned by numerous officials not to return to Moscow after recovering from alleged Novichok poisoning, poised by the FSB or GRU while visiting Siberia. Navalny didn’t listen to former Yukos oil giant CEO Mihael Khordorkovsky, once Russian richest man, until he challenged Putin and wound up in a Siberian prison for nine years. When Khodorkovsky got his pardon from Putin, he agreed to exile, not to return again to Russia. Yet even though Navalny was warned by almost everyone to run his anti-corruption group in exile, he defied legal authorities. Now Navalny sits in solitary confinement in a Russian penal colony with no hope of getting out, perhaps ever.
Navalny’s former chief aide Leonid Volkov tries to keep the charade going about Navalny’s anticorruption group, feeding media utter rubbish about what really going on with Navalny in solitary confinement when he has no direct access him. “Our assessment of how crazy Putin actually is was wrong,” Volkov said. Volkov says Putin “doesn’t care about sanctions about international reaction.” Volkov hopes for revolution in the Kremlin where Putin gets chased out of power, a typical claim from Kiev officials who have been warning about Revolution. Vokov knows little to nothing about the Ukraine War but hopes to galvanize more opposition to the war, urging Russian citizens to protest in the streets. Western media claims the war in Ukraine has not gone well for Putin, despite the fact that he’s seized some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory in nine months of conflict. Volkov wants to conflate the Ukraine War with Navalny.
Navalny is totally out of loop just like Volkov, pretending that hope springs eternal for getting Navalny out of a Russian penal colony. Volkov emphasizes that Navalny’s life is threatened in the penal colony with inadequate nutrition and health care. Volkov hopes if peace negotiations start to end the Ukraine conflict, somehow his boss, Navalny, could be used as a bargaining chip to get him out. But under what circumstances would Putin every release Navalny, his sworn enemy, trying to topple his regime out or prison? U.S. officials can’t negotiate a prisoner swap to get 32-year-old WNBA star Brittney Griner out of a penal colony, largely because 80-year-old President Joe Biden is at war with the Kremlin in Ukraine. Volkov speaks to the U.S. or EU press like he has some inside track on the Ukraine War, or, on Navalny’s personal condition when he actually has no contact.
Navalny is nothing more than a phantom at this point, a once annoying dissident that liked to embarrass 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny once disseminated pictures of a Russian oligarch’s Black Sea palace, claiming it was one of Putin’s many extravagant assets plundered from the Russian state. “Putin is not very in touch with reality apparently,.but even if he thinks about possible future scenarios. Under such circumstances, Navalny is a potential bargaining chip. This could also be important,” Volkov said, making zero sense. Putin wouldn’t trade Navaly under any conceivable scenario, knowing he backs Biden’s proxy war against the Kremlin, hoping to topple Putin’s government. Volkov pretends that Navalny runs his anti-corruption group from solitary confinement. Volkov’s main purpose is to keep his boss in the news to keep him relevant.
Insulting Putin by calling him “out of touch with reality” or worse yet “crazy” isn’t going to improve Navalny’s chances of getting out prison. Volkov’s wants to promote a Rasputin myth of Navalny, a kind of superhuman, with special religious power to topple the Russian government. Volkov claims that prison authorities stuck Navalny in solitary confinement to shut him up. Volkov claims that Navalny encourages all Russian citizens to protest the Ukraine War, when, in fact, Volkov has no access to his boss. Volkov has been telling Western press that Navalny’s life is threatened in the penal colony due to poor health conditions. “Now the situation is I have to admit, very bad, because new his communication with the outside world is very limited, and his health is endangered and physical condition might get worse,” Volkov said, admitting that he makes things up for the Western press.
Volkov does his best to fabricate rubbish about Navalny when the 46-year-old remains in solitary confinement out of circulation. Volkov pretends to the press he has access to Navaly, when in fact he knows nothing about his current condition. Volkov has turned Navalny into a symbol of Russian protest, a kind of phantom of democracy, keeping hope alive for some Russians. When it comes to the Ukraine War, Volkov knows that Navalny is out of the loop, despite opposing the conflict. Calling Putin “out of touch” or worse yet “crazy” doesn’t help Navalny’s chances of getting out his penal colony anytime soon. Western media likes to hear Volkov call Putin “dumb” for keeping Navalny in prison because it’s turned him into a nationwide protest symbol. Volkov hasn’t helped his boss languishing in a Russian penal colony by insulting Putin every time he gets the chance.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
