Imprisoned Russian anti-Putin promises to “fight tyranny” after Navalny’s death

This opponent declared that he would continue to fight against the tyranny of Vladimir Putin this Tuesday. “As long as my heart beats in my chest, I will fight against tyranny. As long as I live, I will not fear evil. And as long as I breathe, I will be with my people. I swear,” wrote Ilia Iachine in a letter posted Tuesday on social networks by those close to him.

Putin: a gang leader

He said he was “convinced” that Vladimir Putin had “ordered” the killing of Alexeï Navalny, his long-time friend.

“He didn’t just kill him, he killed him demonstratively. Especially before the election (presidential election in Russia in mid-March, Editor’s note) so that no one doubts Putin’s involvement,” he added.

“In Putin’s understanding, this is how power asserts itself: with murder, cruelty, and revelatory revenge. This thought is not that of a statesman. It’s that of a gang leader,” continued the opponent.

In April 2023, Ilia Yashin, 39, was sentenced on appeal to eight and a half years in prison for denouncing “the murder of civilians” in the Ukrainian town of Boutcha, near Kyiv, where the Russian army was accused of abuses, which Moscow denies, as always when its forces are accused of war crimes.

In November, he was transferred to a penal colony in Safonovo, near the western Russian city of Smolensk.

An activist in the Russian opposition since the early 2000s, like Alexeï Navalny, he was a long-time friend of the latter.

“A hero"

“Alexei will go down in history as a man of exceptional courage, who moved forward for his convictions. He moved forward, despising fear and death. He walked forward with a smile and proudly raised his head. And he died a hero,” greeted Ilia Iachine.

“Putin will remain a small man who obtained immense power by chance,” he continued.

Ilia Yashin was also a close friend and collaborator of another great opponent of Vladimir Putin, Boris Nemtsov, assassinated in Moscow in 2015.

“The pain and fear are unbearable. But despite everything, I will not be silent,” he wrote in his letter.

“Standing in front of Boris's body in February 2015, I swore to myself not to be afraid, not to give up and not to run away. Nine years later, mourning Alexei, I can only repeat this oath.” On his account

“News arrives slowly in the camp barracks, and it was only yesterday [Monday, February 19] that I learned of the death of Alexeï Navalny. It's difficult to express my shock. It's hard to collect my thoughts. The pain and horror are unbearable.

“And yet, I will not remain silent, I will say what I consider important.

 “For me, there is no doubt. What happened to Navalny? I do not doubt that he was killed. For three years, Alexei was under the control of security forces, who already organized an unsuccessful assassination attempt in 2020. We have now put an end to this matter.

“For me, the question is not: who killed? I have no doubts about Putin. He is a war criminal. Navalny was his main opponent in Russia and a source of hatred in the Kremlin. Putin had both motive and opportunity. I am convinced that he ordered the murder.

“I understand how state propaganda will begin to manipulate public opinion. They will say that Navalny's death is not profitable for the President, that killing him a month before the elections is illogical, that Putin is focused on world politics and has no time to think about a prisoner... is completely absurd, reject it out of hand.

After Alexei’s poisoning in 2020, propaganda defended Putin with the argument: “If he wanted to kill, he would kill.” That's right. He wanted it and he killed. And he not only killed, he killed demonstratively. Especially on the eve of the elections, so that no one doubts Putin's involvement. He also killed Prigozhin in a demonstrative way – so that no one would doubt that either.

@RFI, Politico, Liberal....