Putin uttered Navalny’s name after his victory, an extremely rare occurrence

Gavril Grigorov / AFP

Vladimir Putin, here on March 29, 2023, won the Russian presidential election in which he defeated all his rivals.

Russia – “Mr Navalny”. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a speech this Sunday, March 17, after his surprise victory in a farce of the presidential election. He mentioned the death of Alexei Navalny by publicly pronouncing his name, an extremely rare and unprecedented event. It was also the first time he spoke publicly about the death of an opponent.

This topic was put on the table by a journalist of the American media NBC during the post-victory press conference. “As for Mr. Navali, he is dead. Yes, he died, it’s always a sad event, but we have other cases where people have died in prison,” Vladimir Putin reacted.

In general, Russian authorities try not to mention the names of Putin’s enemies who die in prison, giving them various names such as “blogger”, “the person you are referring to”“ This citizen”, “This gentleman”, Or “This character”.

The president also confirmed that a prisoner swap with Alexei Navalny was on the table before the Russian adversary’s death. He clarified that while the idea of ​​exchanging the anti-corruption activist “ Some people who are in prisons in Western countries” was brought up, he was “ ok”. “ There was only one condition: we trade him so he doesn’t come back.he added.

There is no relief on Ukraine

In his victory speech, Vladimir Putin thanked the voters. “All citizens of Russia who went to polling stations and voted”, he declared, warning those who committed acts of vandalism. He also maintained that these actions had no impact on the conduct of voting.

Putin also wanted to project an image of a strong Russia: “It doesn’t matter who wants to scare us or how much, who wants to crush us or how much, our will or our conscience. No one has ever done anything like this in history. It doesn’t work today and it won’t work in the future. »

The master of the Kremlin also expressed his decision on the war in Ukraine and emphasized the need. “To achieve our objectives in terms of special military operations”, the expression used by Russian authorities to talk about this conflict. And to ensure that his troops had an advantage over the people of Kiev.

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