How Alexei Navalny got under Putin’s skin

Earlier today, Russia announced the death of anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. He died in one of the most remote prison camps in Russia, inherited from the Soviet network of Gulags. Navalny resembled the old-style Soviet dissidents. He was stubborn. He adamantly refused to compromise. And he was determined not to be driven into exile. After he was poisoned with a nerve agent, he returned voluntarily from his convalescence in Germany at the start of 2021, knowing full well that he was likely to be arrested. He appears to have got under Putin's skin in a way other opponents did not.

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