what the fuck is happening in Russia?

Navalny dead, reportedly.

Strange a prison wouldn't have bars on its hospital windows.

I’m thinking particularly of this remarkable interview where he describes what Novichok poisoning actually feels like. https://t.co/gla6V4z1Yw

— Elvis Buñuelo (@Mr_Considerate) February 16, 2024

Yep, even if he wasn’t bashed on the head today, he was murdered by the state as surely as Nemtsov via that poisoning and subsequent denial of medical services.

never understood why he returned to russia after his hospitalization

There is of course a long, proud tradition of Russian dissidents writing in exile, so yeah, I don't know why he went back, knowing it meant at least more imprisonment, if not certain death. Pretty tragic.

That doc (HBO?) was pretty great. The guy had cojones.

“I have to go back.” Speaking just before he returned to Russia, Navalny told me: “I don’t think that I can have such a privilege of being safe in Russia, but I have to go back, because I don’t want this group of killers [to] exist in Russia. I don’t want Putin ruling Russia.” pic.twitter.com/ScgHCb7jYu

— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) February 16, 2024

Also not obvious he would have been safe in Germany given how many people have been murdered by ‘autonomous patriots’ like Vadim Krasikov in the last few years.

Interesting read on the aftermath

The Federal Penitentiary Service has announced the death of Alexei. However, it remains crucial to await confirmation from his legal team and family. So far, here are my reflections on the matter:

First, politically speaking, it's a difficult truth, but Navalny's decision to…

— Tatiana Stanovaya (@Stanovaya) February 16, 2024

"this fash cunt was Russia's Mandela" lads my head hurts i've lost touch with words

Maybe we should have a rolling islamophobia thread, until we do this goes here I guess

Navalny referring to Muslims as cockroaches and advocating for their extermination https://t.co/uxvoCKtr5g pic.twitter.com/SJHmzTTpru

— j (@jrc1921) February 16, 2024

Masha Gessen on Navalny and nationalism in 2021:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-evolution-of-alexey-navalnys-nationalism

Worth keeping in mind that Russia likens all its enemies to right wing Nazis, but Navaly by all accounts evolved past any such inclinations. I think that video is from 2007.

I'm not celebrating his death, and I'm sure he would have been better than Putin, but not going to beatify him either, as our politicians seem to be doing.

Navalny had moved past the overt far-right stuff, and those clips are all 15 or so years ago, I agree.

That being said, I'm not convinced by how much he had moved past it, and I don't think there was anything positive about him either, and a Russia with less corruption but continued colonialist aspirations would also be a worry

As to our politicians beatifying him, I see that as a form of political technology. Whether it serves a purpose or is counter-productive I can't really tell. It is kind of weird when even much more overt people like Strelkov are just called "opposed to Putin" without providing context of "wants to kill harder and faster", but at same time "puts opposition leader in jail" or "kills opposition leader" is the story regardless

I don't think there was anything positive about him either,

Actually, going back over it, I'm kind of on the fence about this. In some ways its easy to look at it like "he just wanted to get rid of the corruption and didn't have a problem with invading Ukraine or colonialism in general" and I've kind of reflexively in that position. Likely partly subconsciously as a reaction to western praise. But I'm not all that sure about relying on 15+ year old clips, regardless of being somewhat dubious of how much changed, or how much that was misjudged triangulation in first place. Russia doesnt have all the much room for manoeuvre

He was at best a quasi-liberal Russian chauvinist late into his career but opposed to the most recent Ukraine war and idk if he landed substantially to the right of a lot of the Western politicians memorialising him. There has barely been any mention of, let alone support for, his politics vs his undeniable bravery and the loss to the wider pro-democracy movement

I think thats fair. Its complicated, especially when assessing someone over a long period of time

I think its also appropriate to judge people from the context in which they operate in, more than the one I operate in

what was Navalny's position on those uniquely Russian supermarket trollies with coin deposit slots, just asking for Tucker Carlson.

unique how? coin deposit shopping trollies are standard in Portugal, France.

There's plenty of them over here too but I imagine they're all unique to Tucker Carlson.

ah ok wasn't aware of the tucker video, sorry calz

I'm guessing you can't bet on the what percentage Putin gets, but if you could I'd say 79%

179%

100% эта сука

87 seems to be the number. Anything less than 105% is a defeat though.

87 is high, more so than I would have thought. Rigged elections generally fall into two categories, those that are theoretically plausible and genuinely contain a level of intent to persuade voters they're alone and all their neighbors are against them, like a big of exaggeration of something which might be true via all the other means of creating support - and then those that are meant to laugh at the public and make a mockery of everything like the Zaporizhia referendum results of 99.4%, dispensing with any pretence

Putin has always stayed in the upper reaches of the first category, but this feels too high for that

several killed at the Krokus concert hall near Moscow, several men in combat fatigue entered & shot at the crowd + explosives too

(Crocus)

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/03/22/at-least-12-reported-killed-in-mass-shooting-at-moscow-concert-hall-a84578

I'm sorry but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fPjQZwhrOE

Oof

oof..uck

Haven't seen mention yet of what the concert/performance was. Probably irrelevant to the incident, but would be helpful to know.

People are still trapped inside the fire-ravaged Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, where a shooting and explosions occured earlier, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

The fire has engulfed a third of the concert venue building and the roof of the building is almost completely engulfed in flames, TASS reported.

a rock band called Picnic was scheduled to play & the attack happened before the start of the show

https://78.ru/news/2024-03-22/basist-gruppi-piknik-strelba-v-crocus-city-hall-nachalas-pered-samim-koncertom

"Bassist of the band “Picnic” Marat Korchemny told the details of the shooting in the capital’s Crocus City Hall.
“The shooting started in the hall just before the concert. A series of shots rang out. The whole group was saved, everyone is safe, now we are trying to evacuate,” he said in an interview with the Petersburg Diary newspaper."

not saying this means anything but they were banned from playing in Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea, it says here

The venue is apparently owned by Putin/Trump liaison and Miss Universe host Aras Agalarov.

Hmm

His company Crocus Group was the general contractor for two stadiums that hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches.

Crocus City Hall hosted the Miss Universe finals in 2013. Donald Trump attended the ceremony and met with the Agalarovs.

at least 40 dead

It feels just as likely to be a Russian mafia operation as anything else.

hmm

The attack followed a statement issued earlier this month by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that urged the Americans to avoid crowded places in the Russian capital in view of an imminent attack, a warning that was repeated by several other Western embassies.

The fact that Ramzan Kadyrov was one of the first to condemn it suggests otherwise.

(xp)

remembering the moscow bombings that preceded the chechnya war - it would not be above putin to organize something like this

considering how much fodder it will provide for russian propaganda machine my bet is on putin, absolutely.

Islamic State have claimed responsibility on its Telegram channel for the attacks at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, Reuters is reporting.

Oh, that's nice they have a Telegram channel.. are they on TikTok as well?

Is that meant to be sarcastic? I would assume they are unless TikTok has banned them.

https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/caliphatetok-tiktok-continues-to-host-islamic-state-propaganda/#:~:text=New%20research%20by%20ISD%20reveals,TikTok%20without%20facing%20any%20consequences.

Does Telegram not ban self-avowed terror groups?