Alexei Navalny's ally Leonid Volkov says the fight with Putin will never end

Alexei Navalny's close ally Leonid Volkov has vowed to “never give up” in the fight against Vladimir Putin, saying the late Russian opposition leader's “ultimate sacrifice” will “not be in vain”. Dew.

Three people were arrested last month in connection with the attack, which Mr. Navalny's longtime chief of staff believes was ordered by President Vladimir Putin's government.

He said there was “no one to replace” Navalny and that “everyone” saw his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, as the new “charismatic” leader of the opposition movement. I didn't want that kind of public role.”

Volkov said his friend's death was “an open wound in our hearts.”

“We always knew we were fighting a crazy fascist dictator who would not accept any red lines,” he said.

He said Putin had “murdered thousands of people” both domestically, in Europe and against his political opponents in Ukraine.

Navalny's aides have warned that there is no “one magic trick” that can bring down the Russian regime.

He called on Western allies to send more weapons to Ukraine and urged them not to consider negotiations with Russia despite recent Russian advances.

He said Putin is “bluffing to make himself seem much stronger than he is. He hopes it's enough to force Ukraine and its Western allies into some kind of negotiation… Don't be bluff,” he said.

Mr. Volkov added that Mr. Putin needed “military pressure, economic pressure and political pressure, both internal and external.”

“If there are 50 things we can do, we have to do all 50. Even if we do 49, it's not enough, because it's the worst thing we've seen in 80 years. It's the biggest threat to the world,” he said.

Mr. Volkov's determination is astonishing. He barely flinched as he described to me how attackers broke his car window in March and hit him in the legs with pepper spray and a hammer.

He seems almost surprised that people made such an uproar that he had been violently targeted outside his home, even though he has lived outside Russia for years for his own safety.

There is no question that he is abandoning his job at the Navalny Foundation, pushing for tougher sanctions against Putin's allies, exposing corruption within the regime and exploiting weaknesses in the Kremlin to build political support. do not have.

Our politicians frequently talk about the need to stand up to Russia's leadership while competing for resources for defense and additional weapons to support Ukraine.

However, Russian opposition activists live in constant danger.

Alexei Navalny was not the first victim of the political struggle against President Vladimir Putin's repressive regime. He may not be the last.