Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine final yr reignited a longstanding debate in regards to the place the Russian opposition occupies within the context of Russian aggression within the post-Soviet house. Russian opposition activists and a few observers have contended that Russian expansionism can cease solely via regime change and democratisation, ostensibly led by the Russian opposition.
Ukrainians, and lots of of their supporters from post-Soviet nations which have skilled Russian imperialism firsthand, are likely to disagree. They don’t see the Russian opposition – and extra particularly its most distinguished chief at this time, Alexey Navalny – as future guarantors of peace.
To elucidate why, I might first wish to relay an change I had with members of Navalny’s motion, or “Navalnists” as they’re referred to as in Russian, again in 2015.
It occurred at a closed occasion at a British assume tank wherein a Ukrainian colleague of mine spoke in regards to the transformation of cultural values in Ukraine after the 2014 revolution and the start of the Russian aggression. Among the many attendees have been two Russians, who have been touring Britain as representatives of Navalny’s motion. After the speak was carried out, my colleague and I had an opportunity to have a quick chat with them.
As one may anticipate, we questioned them in regards to the remarks Navalny made on Russia’s unlawful annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in March 2014. In an interview with Echo of Moscow radio station in October 2014, Navalny admitted that the peninsula had been seized via “outrageous violations of all worldwide norms”, and but asserted that it will “stay a part of Russia” and would “by no means grow to be a part of Ukraine within the foreseeable future”.
His assertion was not merely an evaluation of the developments round Crimea. When pressed on whether or not he would return Crimea to Ukraine have been he to grow to be Russia’s president, Navalny wrapped his “No” in an odd rhetorical query: “What? Is Crimea a sandwich or one thing which you can take and provides again?” It was clear that his political place on Crimea was that it ought to “stay a part of Russia”.
You will need to level out that our dialog with the 2 Navalnists happened lower than half a yr after the assassination of distinguished Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov close to the Kremlin. The homicide of Nemtsov, who vocally opposed Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, allowed Navalny to emerge as the primary Russian opposition chief nonetheless trying to do politics in Russia.
The opposite main opponent of President Vladimir Putin’s regime, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, lived in exile in London and was in a roundabout way concerned in Russian politics.
Therefore, it was not unreasonable to think about at the moment that any regime change in Russia, if it have been to occur, could be led by Navalny. That’s the reason we needed to know what Ukraine ought to anticipate from “the great Russia of the longer term”, as Navalny likes to name post-Putin Russia.
The Navalnists responded that beneath a democratically elected authorities, Moscow would hold Crimea although the annexation was unlawful. That’s as a result of their insurance policies must mirror the desire of the Russian individuals and the overwhelming majority of Russians needed Crimea to be inside Russian borders.
However there was extra to it. We contended that the West would by no means recognise the annexation of Crimea and that the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity wouldn’t solely enhance relations between Russia and the West however would additionally assist restore relations between Russia and Ukraine. The Navalnists’ response was that “the great Russia of the longer term” would discover methods to clean relations with the West with out rectifying the injustice carried out to Ukraine.
Ukraine, in different phrases, is likely to be a right away sufferer of Putin’s regime, and but – even when he’s gone – it will stay a sufferer of Russian colonialism as a result of the latter was widespread not solely amongst regime supporters but additionally amongst “Russian democrats”. As Volodymyr Vynnychenko, one of many central figures of the Ukrainian nationwide liberation motion in 1917-1919, insightfully famous a century in the past, “Russian democracy ends the place the Ukrainian query begins”.
As Navalny turned the face of the Russian opposition to Putin – a face more and more recognised as such not solely in Russia but additionally within the West – Ukrainians grew cautious. At the moment, the West backed democratisation and modernisation in Ukraine and supplied some help for the nation’s battle towards Russian aggression. “However what would grow to be of that if Navalny have been to come back to energy in Russia?” we requested ourselves.
As Navalny positively loved, on the very least, ethical help from Western leaders, his rise to energy in Russia might conceivably result in a reset in Western-Russian relations, leaving Ukraine out within the chilly. Many feared that Ukraine would not matter to Western leaders if that they had somebody nicer than Putin to speak to.
And there was already a precedent. In August 2008, Russia – then beneath the management of Dmitry Medvedev – invaded Georgia and occupied the Georgian areas of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The West brokered a peace settlement which was not solely extremely unfavourable to Georgia however was additionally not honoured by Russia.
And but, half a yr later, the Obama administration supplied Medvedev – who, at the moment, appeared extra progressive than Putin – a “reset” in an try to enhance relations between the US and Russia. This transfer which was typically welcomed by West European governments primarily meant “wiping the slate clear” and, thus, implied that Russia’s occupation of Georgian areas wouldn’t be contested.
Navalny, as Ukrainians and liberal Russians bear in mind nicely, vehemently supported the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 and even used derogatory, dehumanising phrases to check with the Georgian individuals. A number of years later, he would apologise for the phrases he used, however by no means for his help of the Russian conflict on Georgia.
Navalny was nominally towards the Russian aggression in Ukraine, however his “anti-war” place was underpinned by financial, somewhat than ethical, concerns: “Russia can in poor health afford waging the conflict”. That place expectedly didn’t entail any empathy in direction of the Ukrainian individuals – one thing that was additionally mirrored in his use of ethnic slurs towards them.
He noticed the Russian individuals as victims of injustice beneath Putin’s regime, not the Ukrainians. In his view, no incorrect had been dedicated towards Ukraine that was value righting.
Within the following years, because the Russian aggression in Ukraine became a frozen battle, Navalny and his staff centered on exposing the corruption of Putin’s regime via a sequence of high-profile investigations. Forward of the 2018 presidential elections, these sensational revelations began to harass the Kremlin in probably the most critical method.
Navalny and his followers have been subjected to common bodily assaults and short-term arrests. The Kremlin had clearly come to consider that his political motion posed a risk to the regime and determined to destroy it.
It appeared to make sense for Ukrainians to supply help for Navalny’s motion, not less than tactical if not strategic, because it might probably destabilise Putin’s regime and subvert its conflict machine. However the troubles of Navalny and his followers didn’t resonate with Ukrainians, as his previous remarks, in addition to the Navalnists’ vanity and disdain, supplied little hope that “the great Russia of the longer term” would have any respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Even after the Russian authorities poisoned Navalny with a nerve agent and later imprisoned him on politically-motivated costs, few Ukrainians softened their stances.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, adopted by the huge crackdown on the remnants of anti-Putin opposition in Russia, dramatically modified the views on Ukraine many Russian critics of the Putin regime held, together with Navalny’s staff.
As nearly all of Navalnists have been pressured to hunt refuge within the West, the place many influential figures adopted a “Ukraine First” coverage in speaking with self-identified “Russian democrats”, the Navalnists might not afford to publicly specific their disdain for Ukraine as a result of they risked shedding all Western sympathy in direction of their motion.
In late February 2023, Navalny’s staff printed a 15-point manifesto that sought to clear a lot of the controversy round their views of Ukraine. Importantly, the manifesto acknowledged the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine, implying the necessity for the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea and all different at the moment occupied Ukrainian territories.
The doc additionally insisted on withdrawing all Russian troops from Ukraine, providing reparations, investigating conflict crimes in cooperation with worldwide establishments, and in the end letting Ukraine stay and develop as Ukrainians need.
For a lot of Ukrainians, nevertheless, this variation of coronary heart is nicely previous its due date. In at this time’s Ukraine, only a few consider that the Russian aggression could be stopped by anti-Putin activism, even one that’s unambiguously pro-Ukrainian.
On this conflict, Ukrainians depend on their very own preventing spirit and Western help. What occurs to Russia after its much-anticipated navy defeat in Ukraine isn’t of a lot concern. This may occasionally seem short-sighted, however the conflict is understandably a extra urgent concern.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
