Navalny: fact vs fiction, part 2 w/ Maria Ananyeva

“On the Barricades” s06e45

In this two-part release of “On the Barricades,” hosts Boyan Stanislavski and Maria Cernat speak with a pair of academics inside Russia to get at some truth about the figure so well heralded by the West, the “oppositionist” and “honest” challenger to Putin, Alexei Navalny. There’s been some backlash after the Navalny extravaganza and misportrayal went perhaps too far in the Oscar-winning documentary with his name. It’s time to get a better grip on the Russian political system as a whole and Navalny’s role in it.

In this first episode of two, we have Maria Ananyeva back with us. She is an academic and analyst living in Moscow who is able to share her critical perspective on questions such as: how popular is Navalny in Russia? How progressive is Navalny, really– does his political program go beyond mere opposition to Putin? What function does he play in the political system and society? What is his main purpose according to his backers and in relation to the current ruling regime? Maria explains some of the propaganda circulating that casts Navalny as everything from a saviour, anti-Christ, a horseman of the apocalypse, and more. Less publicized and present in the media is another, perhaps more serious voice of dissent in Russia: Murza Khan, recently jailed and who delivered a speech in the US.