Russia has been exposed a rogue state that is a menace to the rest of the world
Alexei Navalny, persecuted, tortured and murdered by Vladimir Putin, was – to borrow the title of the Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov’s most celebrated work – “a hero of our time”. His courageous fight against the venality and brutality of Russia’s regime, and his championing of democratic choice and human rights, placed him at the forefront of today’s global struggle between liberalism and authoritarianism.
Yet unlike Pechorin, the central character in Lermontov’s 1840 novel of rebellion and disillusion, Navalny did not see himself as a hero or in any way exceptional. He was essentially a man of the people. He spoke for the common man and woman – and he spoke with a smile. And that, more than anything, was what Russia’s humourless, uncharismatic killer-president could neither accept nor forgive.