Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who returned to Russia last week after recovering in Berlin from an attempt on his life involving a military nerve agent, presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a stark choice. Putin could bolster his grip on power by silencing Navalny, but further chip away at the remaining vestiges of the country’s democracy — or tolerate him at the risk of losing command of the country, if the opposition he led swelled.
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Samuel Greene, Graeme Robertson: Putin sees the opposition as a real threat
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny is escorted out of a police station on Jan. 18, 2021, in Khimki, outside Moscow, following the court ruling that ordered him jailed for 30 days.
