Russian / Navalny’s Grim Fate Sends A Message About Putin’s Grip On Russia

Imagine a chessboard, where the king, in a game of power and strategy, is seemingly invincible. Now imagine that king as Russia's President, Vladimir Putin. How did one man, Alexey Navalny, dare to challenge this king and what has been his fate? The story starts in the early two-thousands, when Navalny, a lawyer and anti-corruption activist, began to gain popularity. His investigations into Russian corruption were becoming a thorn in the government's side. Yet, it wasn't until twenty-ten that Navalny truly stepped into the political arena, labeling Putin's United Russia party as 'the party of crooks and thieves.' This bold move gained him followers, but also the attention of Russia's formidable state apparatus.