Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Alla Pugacheva during a 2014 awards ceremony honoring the pop singer with the Order For Merit to the Fatherland.
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images
In opinion polls over the past two decades, she’s routinely selected as one of the most popular Russians – often appearing second only to Vladimir Putin.
A new CNN documentary about jailed opposition figurehead Aleksei Navalny offers insights into Putin’s challengers.
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a destroyed apartment complex after a Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on March 14, 2022. The majority of the city’s residents are Russian-speaking.
(AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
The Russian diaspora has mostly been careful about overtly criticizing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Does that imply support, or fear of Russian retribution?
Repression: thousands of Russians are being arrested in anti-war protests.
Nikolay Vinokurov/Alamy Stock Photo
The Russian president has already shown he will come down hard on domestic opposition to the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has exerted tight control over news and social media in an effort to control the information Russians receive about the Ukraine war.
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Nayan Shah, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The power of the hunger strike lies in its utter simplicity. Anyone can choose to forego eating, even when living under extremely restricted conditions.
Police arrest a protester at a Moscow rally in support of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who fell ill while in prison and is now hospitalized.
Alexander Demianchuk\TASS via Getty Images
There’s not much the world can do to stop authoritarian rulers from persecuting their political opponents, as shown by the standoff over Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who is ill and imprisoned.
Russian police officers beat people protesting the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Jan. 23, 2021 in Moscow.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
And there’s not too much the rest of the world can do to stop them.
Protesters oppose riot police during a rally in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on January 31, 2021 in Moscow, Russia.
Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images
Poisoning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny didn’t get rid of him. He survived the attack, and now the Kremlin must deal with a reinvigorated reform movement led by Navalny.
Within 24 hours of arriving back in Russia, Alexei Navalny has been jailed for 30 days.
EPA-EFE/ Sergei Ilnitsky
He knew he would be arrested on arrival in Russia, but it’s unclear what the dissident politician ‘s next move will be.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (L) poses for a photo at a Moscow rally in support of political prisoners on September 29, 2019.
Dmitri Chirciu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, gravely ill from a suspected poisoning, brought a new type of opposition to Russia in tune with popular concerns and aimed at finding common ground.
Alexei Navalny at a recent rally commemorating the 2015 murder of opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov.
Yuri Kochetkov/EPA
Who is Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition activist seriously ill after suspected poisoning.
A young man wearing a face mask reading “Against” in Pushkin Square in Moscow to protest the constitutional amendments that extended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tenure to 2036.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A plebiscite to amend the Russian constitution was a way for Vladimir Putin to extend his presidency to 2036. But many questions about the vote could mean trouble for the Russian leader.
An opposition activist holds the Russian Constitution during a protest in Moscow, Aug. 17, 2019 against the exclusion of some candidates from Moscow’s upcoming election.
AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko
The Moscow elections of September 2019 were a referendum on President Vladimir Putin’s ruling party. And the opposition’s success suggests a looming political crisis for Putin and his regime.