Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia

The Guardian{{'s}} report from Luke Harding noted that during the 2000s Neo-Nazis, Russian nationalists, and ultranationalist groups were the most significant opposition to Putin's government.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/08/russia-race|title=Putin's worst nightmare|website=The Guardian|date=8 February 2009|access-date=31 January 2018|archive-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828210130/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/08/russia-race|url-status=live}}

Prominent Russian liberal opposition figure Alexei Navalny said before his 2020 poisoning that the Kremlin was "far more afraid of ultra-nationalists than they were of him", noting that "[the ultranationalists] use the same imperial rhetoric as Putin does, but they can do it much better than him".{{Cite news |last=Matthews |first=Owen |date=2022-09-15 |title=More mad than Vlad: Russia's ultra-nationalist threat |language=en-US |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/more-mad-than-vlad-russias-ultranationalist-threat/ |access-date=2023-07-26}}

On 4 March 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading "fake news" about Russia's military operation in Ukraine;{{cite news |date=15 February 2023 |title=Russia Jails Anti-War Journalist 6 Years for 'Fake News' |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/15/russia-jails-anti-war-journalist-6-years-for-fake-news-a80230 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603015326/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/15/russia-jails-anti-war-journalist-6-years-for-fake-news-a80230 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |access-date=4 August 2024 |work=The Moscow Times}} thousands of Russians have been prosecuted under this law for criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine,{{cite news |last1=Weir |first1=Fred |date=5 December 2022 |title=In Russia, critiquing the Ukraine war could land you in prison |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2022/1205/In-Russia-critiquing-the-Ukraine-war-could-land-you-in-prison |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602022102/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2022/1205/In-Russia-critiquing-the-Ukraine-war-could-land-you-in-prison |archive-date=2 June 2023 |access-date=4 August 2024 |work=CSMonitor.com}} including opposition politician Ilya Yashin and artist Aleksandra Skochilenko.{{cite news |date=30 July 2024 |title=Russian dissidents disappear from prison in sign a prisoner swap with the West may be close |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-dissidents-disappear-prison-sign-prisoner-swap-with-west-may-be-close-2024-07-30/ |work=Reuters}} Persecution was directed against pro-democracy and anti-war Russians, while criticism of the Putin regime by pro-war activists and ultranationalists was largely ignored.{{cite news |title=Putin is facing pressure from Russia's hawkish nationalists who want all-out war in Ukraine |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-hawkish-nationalists-who-want-all-out-war-in-ukraine-2022-9 |work=Business Insider |date=17 September 2022}}

Levada Center polls from 2022 indicated that there were at least 30 million pro-European Russians who opposed the war in Ukraine, but very few of them were able to leave Russia. Literary critic Galina Yuzefovich said that leaving Russia is a "privilege" for those who can "afford it".{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/who-are-the-russians-leaving-their-country/a-61364390 |title=Who are the Russians leaving their country? |website=DW |date=5 April 2022 }}

In 2022 and 2023 Political experts in Russia and in the United States have described the far-right ultranationalist opposition to Putin as possibly "the most serious challenge" to the Russian regime.{{cite web|url= https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/vladimir-putins-failing-invasion-is-fueling-the-rise-of-russias-far-right/|access-date=26 July 2023|first=Stanislav|last=Shalinov|title= Vladimir Putin's failing invasion is fueling the rise of Russia's far right|date=14 December 2022}}{{cite news|url= https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/07/24/what-igor-strelkovs-arrest-means-for-russias-patriots-faction-en|access-date=26 July 2023|title=What Igor Strelkov's arrest means for Russia's 'patriots' faction|first=Irina|last=Garina}}

Some observers noted what they described as a "generational struggle" among Russians over perception of Putin's rule, with younger Russians more likely to be against Putin and his policies and older Russians more likely to accept the narrative presented by state-controlled media in Russia. Putin's approval rating among young Russians was 32% in January 2019, according to the Levada Center.{{cite news|title=Opinion: How Putin and the Kremlin lost Russian youths|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/17/how-putin-kremlin-lost-russian-youths/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=17 June 2019|access-date=9 March 2022|archive-date=14 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914105601/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/17/how-putin-kremlin-lost-russian-youths/|url-status=live}} Another poll from the organization placed Putin's support among Russians aged 18–24 at 20% in December 2020.{{cite news|title=Vladimir Putin's popularity with young Russians plummeting, opinion poll finds|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/vladimir-putins-popularity-with-young-russians-plummeting-opinion-poll-finds-678xx6gd5|work=The Times|date=11 December 2020|access-date=9 March 2022|archive-date=4 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604073118/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/vladimir-putins-popularity-with-young-russians-plummeting-opinion-poll-finds-678xx6gd5|url-status=live}}

Current campaigns of the opposition include the dissemination of anti-Putin reports such as Putin. Results. 10 years (2010), Putin. Corruption (2011) and Life of a Slave on Galleys (2012). Video versions of these reports, entitled Lies of Putin's regime,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3C2B9696AB409F76|title=Ложь путинского режима|website=YouTube|access-date=2016-11-26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723125255/https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3C2B9696AB409F76|archive-date=2016-07-23}} have been viewed by about 10 million times on the Internet.{{cite web|url=http://b-nemtsov.livejournal.com/161491.html|title=Ролики "Ложь путинского режима"|last=b_nemtsov|date=10 November 2012|access-date=13 January 2013|archive-date=24 November 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121124224241/http://b-nemtsov.livejournal.com/161491.html|url-status=live}}

In addition, smaller-scale series of actions are conducted. For example, in Moscow in the spring of 2012 saw a series of flash mobs "White Square", when protesters walked through the Red Square with white ribbons,{{Cite web|url=http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=4F93E99BCEC95|title=Стой! Кто идет?|website=www.kasparov.ru|access-date=13 January 2013|archive-date=22 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422021147/http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=4F93E99BCEC95|url-status=live}} in the late spring and summer, they organized the protest camp "Occupy Abay" and autumn they held weekly "Liberty walks" with the chains symbolizing solidarity with political prisoners.{{Cite web|url=https://graniru.org/Politics/Russia/activism/m.206856.html|title=Грани.Ру: В Москве задержаны участники "Прогулки свободы"|website=graniru.org|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=21 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321064825/https://graniru.org/Politics/Russia/activism/m.206856.html|url-status=live}}

A monstration is a parody demonstration where participants gently poke fun at Kremlin policies.{{cite news|title=Moscow threatens to block BBC Russian service Service|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/moscow-threatens-to-block-bbc-russian-service-service_952702.html|access-date=5 August 2014|newspaper=Z News|date=5 August 2014|archive-date=4 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504201337/https://zeenews.india.com/news/world/moscow-threatens-to-block-bbc-russian-service-service_952702.html|url-status=live}}

Some opposition figures, for example, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, said there are no elections in Putin's Russia,{{Cite news|url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/24211764.html|title="Выборов, которые приведут к отстранению Путина от власти, в России быть не может. Надо четко зафиксировать наш призыв к демонтажу существующей системы. Она убивает будущее России. Выживание путинского режима – это гибель страны. Вот об этом надо говорить, а не соблазнять людей предвыборными пустышками"|website=Радио Свобода|date=6 June 2011|last1=Соколов|first1=Михаил|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=22 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422021146/https://www.svoboda.org/a/24211764.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://graniru.org/blogs/free/entries/207410.html|title=Грани.Ру | Юрий Староверов: Марш регионов вместо иллюзий|website=graniru.org|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=22 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422021148/https://graniru.org/blogs/free/entries/207410.html|url-status=live}} and that participation in a procedure called elections only legitimizes the regime.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

On the other hand, a small part of liberals (the party of "Democratic Choice") consider elections as the main tool to achieve their political goals.{{cite web|url=http://demvybor.ru/about.html|title=О нас. Что такое "Демократический выбор"?|publisher=Демократический выбор|access-date=2010-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418065132/http://demvybor.ru/about.html|archive-date=2012-04-18|url-status=dead}}

File:Rally in support of political prisoners 2013-10-27 7989.jpg, Moscow on 27 October 2013]]

{{main|Dissenters' March}}

The Dissenters' March was a series of Russian opposition protests started in 2006. It was preceded by opposition rallies in Russian cities in December 2005 which involved fewer people. Most of the Dissenters' March protests were unsanctioned by authorities. The Dissenters' March rally was organized by The Other Russia, a broad umbrella group that includes opposition leaders, including National Bolshevik Party with its leader Eduard Limonov, far-left Vanguard of Red Youth as well as liberals such as former world chess champion and United Civil Front leader Garry Kasparov.

{{main|Strategy-31}}

Strategy-31 was a series of civic protests in support of the right to peaceful assembly in Russia guaranteed by Article 31 of the Russian Constitution. Since 31 July 2009, the protests were held in Moscow on Triumfalnaya Square on the 31st of every month with 31 days.{{cite journal|author=Toepfl, Florian|title=Making sense of the news in a hybrid regime: how young Russians decode state TV and an oppositional blog|journal=Journal of Communication|date=April 2013|volume=63|issue=4|pages=244–265|doi=10.1111/jcom.12018|url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/49239/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_Toepfl%2C%20F_Toepfl_Making_%20sense_%20news_2013_Toepfl_Making_%20sense_%20news_2013.pdf|access-date=14 December 2019|archive-date=13 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313033345/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/49239/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_Toepfl,%20F_Toepfl_Making_%20sense_%20news_2013_Toepfl_Making_%20sense_%20news_2013.pdf|url-status=live}} Strategy-31 was led by writer Eduard Limonov and human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva.

{{main|2011–2013 Russian protests}}

File:Moscow rally 12 June 2012, Trubnaya Square (01).jpg

Starting from 5 December 2011, the day after the elections to the State Duma, there have been repeated massive political actions of Russian citizens who disagree with the outcome of these "elections". The current surge of mass opposition rallies has been called in some publications "a snow revolution".{{Cite web|url=http://ej.ru/?a=note&id=12329|title=Ежедневный Журнал: Координационный совет накануне выборов|website=ej.ru|access-date=13 January 2013|archive-date=8 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608071359/http://www.ej.ru/?a=note&id=12329|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/elections2011/2011/12/12_a_3924718.shtml|title=Высокий градус русской зимы|website=Газета.Ru|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=12 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612124217/https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/elections2011/2011/12/12_a_3924718.shtml|url-status=live}}[http://www.kyivpost.ua/opinion/op-ed/urok-dlya-rossii-snezhnaya-revolyuciya-ne-dolzhna-povtorit-oshibki-oranzhevoj-36677.html Андерс Аслунд. Урок для России. Снежная революция не должна повторить ошибки Оранжевой. — KyivPost, 22.02.2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913172218/http://www.kyivpost.ua/opinion/op-ed/urok-dlya-rossii-snezhnaya-revolyuciya-ne-dolzhna-povtorit-oshibki-oranzhevoj-36677.html|date=13 September 2013}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.inopressa.ru/article/12mar2012/spiegel/kremlin1.html|title=Протест против Путина: "снежная революция" в России тает|website=www.inopressa.ru|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=28 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328015637/https://www.inopressa.ru/article/12mar2012/spiegel/kremlin1.html|url-status=live}} These rallies continued during the campaign for the election of the President of Russia and after 4 March 2012, presidential election, in which Putin officially won the first round. The protesters claimed that the elections were accompanied by violations of the election legislation and widespread fraud. One of the main slogans of the majority of actions was "For Fair Elections!" and a white ribbon has been chosen as symbol of protests. Beginning from spring 2012 the actions were called marches of millions and took the form of a march followed by a rally. The speeches of participants were anti-Putin and anti-government.

The "March of Millions" on 6 May 2012 at the approach to Bolotnaya Square was dispersed by the police. In the Bolotnaya Square case 17 people are accused of committing violence against police (12 of them are in jail). A large number of human rights defenders and community leaders have declared the detainees innocent and the police responsible for the clashes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.zaprava.ru/|title=За права человека|website=За права человека|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201041211/https://www.zaprava.ru/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://graniru.org/Politics/Russia/activism/m.199284.html|title=Грани.Ру: В Москве прошел митинг в поддержку "узников Болотной"|website=graniru.org|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=31 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531011015/https://graniru.org/Politics/Russia/activism/m.199284.html|url-status=live}}

For the rally on 15 December 2012, the anniversary of the mass protests against rigged elections, the organizers failed to agree with the authorities, and participation was low. Several thousand people gathered without placards on Lubyanka Square and laid flowers at the Solovetsky Stone.{{cite web|url=http://top.rbc.ru/politics/16/12/2012/836789.shtml|title=Стояние у Соловецкого камня: Итоги запрещенной оппозиционной акции|access-date=13 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217034652/http://top.rbc.ru/politics/16/12/2012/836789.shtml|archive-date=17 December 2012|url-status=dead}}

{{main|2014 anti-war protests in Russia}}

File:Марш мира Москва 21 сент 2014 L1460091.jpg

In 2014, members of the Russian opposition have held anti-war protests in opposition to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and Crimean crisis. The March of Peace protests took place in Moscow on 15 March, a day before the Crimean status referendum. The protests have been the largest in Russia since the 2011 protests. Reuters reported that 30,000 people participated in 15 March anti-war rally.{{cite news|title=Ukraine crisis triggers Russia's biggest anti-Putin protest in two years|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-russia-rallies-idINL6N0MC0JC20140315|access-date=16 March 2014|newspaper=Reuters|date=15 March 2014|archive-date=7 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607151405/https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-russia-rallies-idINL6N0MC0JC20140315?edition-redirect=in|url-status=dead}}

{{main|2017–2018 Russian protests}}

File:March in memory of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow (2017-02-26) 78.jpg in Moscow, 26 February 2017]]

On 26 March 2017, protests against alleged corruption in the Russian government took place simultaneously in many cities across the country. The protests began after the release of the film He Is Not Dimon to You by Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation. An April 2017 Levada poll found that 45% of surveyed Russians supported the resignation of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev,"[https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-26/russian-polls-do-mean-something-after-all Russian Polls Do Mean Something After All] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426173824/https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-26/russian-polls-do-mean-something-after-all |date=26 April 2017 }}". Bloomberg. 26 April 2017. against it 33% of respondents. Newsweek reported that "An opinion poll by the Moscow-based Levada Center indicated that 38 percent of Russians supported the rallies and that 67 percent held Putin personally responsible for high-level corruption.""[http://www.newsweek.com/2017/04/28/alexei-navalny-russia-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-corruption-protests-moscow-585004.html Alexei Navalny: Is Russia's Anti-Corruption Crusader Vladimir Putin's Kryptonite?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612172633/http://www.newsweek.com/2017/04/28/alexei-navalny-russia-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-corruption-protests-moscow-585004.html |date=12 June 2017 }}". Newsweek. 17 April 2017.

A May 2017 Levada poll found that 58% of surveyed Russians supported the protests, while 23% said they disapprove."[http://www.levada.ru/2017/06/13/aktsii-protesta-12-iyunya/ Акции протеста 12 июня] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504201429/https://www.levada.ru/2017/06/13/aktsii-protesta-12-iyunya/ |date=4 May 2022 }}". Levada Center. 13 June 2017

{{main|2018 Russian pension protests}}

File:File Moscow rally 10 December 2011, Luzhkov Bridge.jpg, give us back elections", "Deputies, we have not chosen you!"]]

From July 2018, almost every weekend, protest rallies and demonstrations were organized against the planned retirement age hike. Such events occurred in nearly all major cities countrywide including Novosibirsk, St.-Petersburg and Moscow. These events were coordinated by all opposition parties with the leading role of the communists. Also trade unions and some individual politicians (among whom Navalny) functioned as organizers of the public actions.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/28/tens-of-thousands-of-russians-protest-retirement-a/|title=Tens of thousands of Russians protest retirement age hikes|author=J. Heintz|publisher=The Washington Times|date=2018-07-28|access-date=20 December 2018|archive-date=8 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608082249/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/28/tens-of-thousands-of-russians-protest-retirement-a/|url-status=live}}

An intention to hike the retirement age has drastically downed the rating of the President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Russia. So in July 2018, just 49% would vote for Putin if the presidential elections were held in that moment (while during the elections in March 2018, he got 76.7%).{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/16/successful-world-cup-fails-to-halt-slide-in-vladimir-putins-popularity|title=Successful World Cup fails to halt slide in Vladimir Putin's popularity|author=S. Walker|work=The Guardian|date=2018-07-16|access-date=20 December 2018|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226092934/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/16/successful-world-cup-fails-to-halt-slide-in-vladimir-putins-popularity|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/revolution-elderly-putin-rating-falling-180712132055705.html|title=Why Putin's approval rating is falling|author=R. Dobrokhotov|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=2018-07-13|access-date=20 December 2018|archive-date=4 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504201432/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/7/13/why-putins-approval-rating-is-falling/|url-status=live}}

{{main|2019 Moscow protests}}

File:Rally for right to vote in Moscow (2019-08-10) 144614.jpg. August 10, 2019.]]

In the first half of 2019 there were approximately 863 protests across the country.{{cite news|title=Russian Officials Appear Unable to Suppress Protests|url=https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/russian-officials-appear-unable-to-suppress-protests/5113756.html|work=VOA News|date=7 October 2019|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-date=10 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010100607/https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/russian-officials-appear-unable-to-suppress-protests/5113756.html|url-status=live}}

From July 2019, protest rallies for an access to 2019 Moscow City Duma election of independent candidates started in Moscow. The 20 July rally was the largest since 2012. The 27 July rally set a record in number of detainees and police violence.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/world/europe/moscow-protest-election-russia.html|title=Moscow Police Arrest More Than 1,300 at Election Protest|last=Nechepurenko|first=Ivan|date=2019-07-27|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-08-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803042046/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/world/europe/moscow-protest-election-russia.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49125045|title=Thousand arrests at Moscow election protest|date=2019-07-27|access-date=2019-08-02|language=en-GB|archive-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729014358/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49125045|url-status=live}} The 10 August rally outnumbered the 27 July rally, oppositional sources report 50–60 thousand participants.{{Cite web|url=https://echo.msk.ru/news/2480451-echo.html|title=Митинг на проспекте Сахарова собрал, по данным источников "Эха Москвы", от 50 до 60 тысяч человек|website=Эхо Москвы|language=ru|access-date=2019-08-12|archive-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810183115/https://echo.msk.ru/news/2480451-echo.html|url-status=live}}

{{main|2020–2021 Khabarovsk Krai protests}}

On 9 July 2020, the popular governor of the Khabarovsk Krai, Sergei Furgal, who defeated the candidate of Putin's United Russia party in elections two years ago, was arrested and flown to Moscow. Furgal was arrested 15 years after the alleged crimes he is accused of. Every day since 11 June, mass protests have been held in the Khabarovsk Krai in support of Furgal.{{cite news|title=Anti-Putin Protests in Russia's Far East Gather Steam|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_anti-putin-protests-russias-far-east-gather-steam/6193439.html|work=VOA News|date=25 July 2020|access-date=27 July 2020|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806072808/https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/anti-putin-protests-russias-far-east-gather-steam|url-status=live}} On 25 July, tens of thousands of people were estimated to have taken part in the third major rally in Khabarovsk.{{cite news|title=Protests Swell in Russia's Far East in a Stark New Challenge to Putin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/world/europe/russia-protests-putin-khabarovsk.html|work=The New York Times|date=25 July 2020|access-date=27 July 2020|archive-date=22 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122122714/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/world/europe/russia-protests-putin-khabarovsk.html|url-status=live}} The protests included chants of "Away with Putin!", "This is our region", "Furgal was our choice" or "shame on LDPR" and "Shame on the Kremlin!"{{cite news|title=Anger at Kremlin Grows in Latest Massive Russian Far East Protest|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/07/25/mass-anti-kremlin-rallies-grip-russias-far-east-a70977|work=The Moscow Times|date=25 July 2020|access-date=27 July 2020|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820160121/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/07/25/mass-anti-kremlin-rallies-grip-russias-far-east-a70977|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Anti-Kremlin protests in Khabarovsk: 'We hate Moscow!'|url=https://www.dw.com/en/anti-kremlin-protests-in-khabarovsk-we-hate-moscow/a-54323185|work=Deutsche Welle|date=26 July 2020|access-date=27 July 2020|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727104456/https://www.dw.com/en/anti-kremlin-protests-in-khabarovsk-we-hate-moscow/a-54323185|url-status=live}}

In a Levada Center poll carried out from 24 to 25 July 2020, 45% of surveyed Russians viewed the protests positively, 26% neutrally and 17% negatively.{{cite news|title=45 Percent of Russians Support Anti-Putin Protests While Just 17 Percent Oppose Demonstrations: Poll|url=https://www.newsweek.com/45-percent-russians-support-anti-putin-protests-while-just-17-percent-oppose-demonstrations-poll-1521078|work=Newsweek|date=28 July 2020|access-date=17 September 2020|archive-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918211839/https://www.newsweek.com/45-percent-russians-support-anti-putin-protests-while-just-17-percent-oppose-demonstrations-poll-1521078|url-status=live}}

{{main|2021 Russian protests}}

File:2021-01-23 Peter's Square, Lipetsk 01.jpg, 23 January 2021]]

On 23 January 2021, protests across Russia were held in support of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained and then jailed after returning to Russia on 17 January following his poisoning. A few days before the protests, an investigation by Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation was published, accusing Putin of corruption. The video garnered 70 million views in a few days.{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/01/23/protests-for-jailed-kremlin-critic-navalny-sweep-russia-a72708|title=Protests for Jailed Kremlin Critic Navalny Sweep Russia|website=The Moscow Times|date=23 January 2021|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=24 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124102133/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/01/23/protests-for-jailed-kremlin-critic-navalny-sweep-russia-a72708|url-status=live}}

Since jailing of Navalny a "hardening of the course" was observed from the government side, with a choice of "go West or East" being offered to prominent opposition figures, meaning a non-negotiable alternative of either going on emigration ("West") or to prison colonies ("East"). Among those who left Russia are politicians Lyubov Sobol, Dmitry Gudkov, Ivan Zhdanov (whose father had been however arrested in Russia as a hostage), Kira Yarmysh, journalists Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogan, Roman Badanin. The wave of repressions has been also linked with the September 2021 Duma elections.{{Cite news|last1=Troianovski|first1=Anton|author-link=Anton Troianovski|last2=Matsnev|first2=Oleg|date=2021-08-30|title=Exile or Jail: The Grim Choice Facing Russian Opposition Leaders|language=en|work=The New York Times|location=Moscow|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/world/europe/russian-opposition-leaders-exile.html|url-access=limited|access-date=2021-08-31|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831130124/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/world/europe/russian-opposition-leaders-exile.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh has fled Russia, reports Interfax|url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/08/30/navalny-s-spokeswoman-kira-yarmysh-has-fled-russia-reports-interfax|access-date=2021-08-31|website=Meduza|language=en|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831151930/https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/08/30/navalny-s-spokeswoman-kira-yarmysh-has-fled-russia-reports-interfax|url-status=live}}

{{main|2021 Russian election protests}}

Protests against alleged large-scale fraud in favour of the ruling party were held.{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://meduza.io/feature/2021/09/25/v-tsentre-moskvy-aktsiya-kprf-protiv-rezultatov-vyborov-pered-ee-nachalom-politsiya-vzyala-v-osadu-storonnikov-kommunistov-v-gorkome-partii-i-mosgordume|title=В центре Москвы прошла акция КПРФ против результатов выборов. Перед ее началом полиция взяла в осаду сторонников коммунистов — в горкоме партии и Мосгордуме|website=Meduza|access-date=2021-09-25|archive-date=25 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925111705/https://meduza.io/feature/2021/09/25/v-tsentre-moskvy-aktsiya-kprf-protiv-rezultatov-vyborov-pered-ee-nachalom-politsiya-vzyala-v-osadu-storonnikov-kommunistov-v-gorkome-partii-i-mosgordume|url-status=live}}

{{main|2022 anti-war protests in Russia}}

{{see also|Protests against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine}}

File:Anti-war inscription in the Saint Petersburg (2022-05-07).jpg

File:Ilya Yashin in a paddy wagon 2021-03-13.jpg was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for discussing the Bucha massacre in Ukraine on a YouTube stream.]]

File:Иллюстрация Саши Скочиленко на слушаниях в суде.jpg, who was arrested for replacing supermarket price tags with anti-war messages]]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, protesters have used the white-blue-white flag as a symbol of opposition though not all used the flag. Several opposition activists (such as Maria Motuznaya) had criticized the justification by AssezJeune (one of the creators of the flag) to remove the red stripe.{{cite web|title=У антивоенного движения появился новый символ протеста — бело-сине-белый флаг. "Медуза" рассказывает, кто и зачем его придумал|url=https://meduza.io/feature/2022/03/14/u-antivoennogo-dvizheniya-poyavilsya-novyy-simvol-protesta-belo-sine-belyy-flag-meduza-rasskazyvaet-kto-i-zachem-ego-pridumal|website=Meduza|date=14 March 2022|access-date=27 March 2022|archive-date=19 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319215754/https://meduza.io/feature/2022/03/14/u-antivoennogo-dvizheniya-poyavilsya-novyy-simvol-protesta-belo-sine-belyy-flag-meduza-rasskazyvaet-kto-i-zachem-ego-pridumal|url-status=live}}

On the afternoon of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Investigative Committee of Russia issued a warning to Russians that they would face legal repercussions for joining unsanctioned protests related to "the tense foreign political situation".{{cite web |title=Moscow Warns Russians Against Staging Anti-War Protests |website=Voice of America |date=24 February 2022 |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/moscow-warns-russians-against-staging-anti-war-protests/6457294.html |archive-date=25 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225034434/https://www.voanews.com/a/moscow-warns-russians-against-staging-anti-war-protests/6457294.html |url-status=live }} The protests have been met with widespread repression by the Russian authorities. According to OVD-Info, at least 14,906 people were detained from 24 February to 13 March,{{cite web |url=https://reports.ovdinfo.org/no-to-war |script-title=ru:Нет войне – Как российские власти борются с антивоенными протестами |trans-title=No to war – How Russian authorities are fighting anti-war protests |language=ru |website=OVD Info |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-date=22 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322235354/https://reports.ovdinfo.org/no-to-war |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Shevchenko |first=Vitaly |date=15 March 2022 |title=Ukraine war: Protester exposes cracks in Kremlin's war message |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60749064 |archive-date=15 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315140128/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60749064 |url-status=live }} including the largest single-day mass arrests in post-Soviet Russian history on 6 March.{{cite news |last=Vladimirova |first=Alexandra |title=Closed Shops, Zs, Green Ribbons: Russia's Post-Invasion Reality |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/14/closed-shops-zs-green-ribbons-russias-post-invasion-reality-a77344 |work=The Moscow Times |date=14 April 2022 |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420122903/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/14/closed-shops-zs-green-ribbons-russias-post-invasion-reality-a77344 |url-status=live }}

In February 2022, more than 30,000 technology workers,{{cite news |title=Scores of IT workers in Russia sign public anti-war petition |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/01/russian-it-workers-anti-war-petition/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220301/https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/01/russian-it-workers-anti-war-petition/ |archive-date=1 March 2022 |work=TechCrunch |date=1 March 2022}}{{cbignore}} 6,000 medical workers, 3,400 architects,{{cite news |title=Anti-war sentiment grows in Russia as troops close in on Ukrainian capital |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/anti-war-sentiment-grows-in-russia-as-troops-close-in-on-ukrainian-capital |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220227/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/anti-war-sentiment-grows-in-russia-as-troops-close-in-on-ukrainian-capital |archive-date=27 February 2022 |work=PBS |date=26 February 2022}}{{cbignore}} more than 4,300 teachers,{{cite news |title=The Kremlin forces schools and theaters to uphold Putin's invasion propaganda |url=https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/kremlin-schools-propaganda/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220301/https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/kremlin-schools-propaganda/ |archive-date=1 March 2022 |work=Coda Media |date=1 March 2022}}{{cbignore}} more than 17,000 artists,{{cite news |title=Nearly 20,000 Russian artists are demanding a withdrawal from Ukraine |url=https://qz.com/2135849/a-list-of-russian-artists-speaking-out-against-the-ukraine-invasion/ |work=Quartz |date=2 March 2022 |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303161407/https://qz.com/2135849/a-list-of-russian-artists-speaking-out-against-the-ukraine-invasion/ |url-status=live }} 5,000 scientists,{{cite news |title=Global research community condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00601-w |work=Nature |date=1 March 2022 |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303161407/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00601-w |url-status=live }} and 2,000 actors, directors, and other creative figures signed open letters calling for Putin's government to stop the war.{{cite news |title=Russian Government Orders Media Outlets To Delete Stories Referring To 'Invasion' Or 'Assault' On Ukraine |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/roskomnadzor-russia-delete-stories-invasion/31724838.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220227/https://www.rferl.org/a/roskomnadzor-russia-delete-stories-invasion/31724838.html|archive-date=27 February 2022 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL |date=26 February 2022}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |title=Russia's anti-war lobby goes online |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220226-russia-s-anti-war-lobby-goes-online|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220227/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220226-russia-s-anti-war-lobby-goes-online|archive-date=27 February 2022 |work=France 24 |date=26 February 2022}}{{cbignore}} Some Russians who signed petitions against Russia's war in Ukraine lost their jobs.{{cite news |title=She Signed an Open Letter Calling for Peace. Then Got Fired. |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/03/she-signed-an-open-letter-calling-for-peace-then-got-fired-a76728 |work=The Moscow Times |date=3 March 2022 |archive-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305094445/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/03/she-signed-an-open-letter-calling-for-peace-then-got-fired-a76728 |url-status=live }}

On 17 March, Putin gave a speech in which he called opponents of the war "scum and traitors," saying that a "natural and necessary self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country."{{cite news |title=Putin warns Russia against pro-Western 'traitors' and scum |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-warns-russia-against-pro-western-traitors-scum-2022-03-16/ |work=Reuters |date=16 March 2022 |access-date=13 August 2022 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324034118/https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-warns-russia-against-pro-western-traitors-scum-2022-03-16/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Putin says Russia must undergo a 'self-cleansing of society' to purge 'bastards and traitors' as thousands flee the country |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-says-russia-must-undergo-self-cleansing-society-2022-3 |work=Business Insider |date=16 March 2022 |access-date=13 August 2022 |archive-date=22 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322184001/https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-says-russia-must-undergo-self-cleansing-society-2022-3 |url-status=live }} Russian authorities were encouraging Russians to report their friends, colleagues and family members to the police for expressing opposition to the war in Ukraine.{{cite news |title=Russians Are Snitching On Friends and Family Who Oppose the War in Ukraine |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/russians-snitching-on-russians-ukraine/ |work=Vice |date=8 August 2022 |access-date=13 August 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815034541/https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgyyed/russians-snitching-on-russians-ukraine |url-status=live }}

More than 2,000 people were detained or fined by May 2022 under the laws prohibiting "fake" information about the military.{{cite news |title=Video shows defiant Russian audience chanting 'fuck the war' at St Petersburg concert |url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/news/video-shows-defiant-russian-audience-chanting-fuck-the-war-at-st-petersburg-concert/vqj7s2q |work=Business Insider |date=23 May 2022 |access-date=13 August 2022 |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523012429/https://africa.businessinsider.com/news/video-shows-defiant-russian-audience-chanting-fuck-the-war-at-st-petersburg-concert/vqj7s2q |url-status=live }} In July 2022, Alexei Gorinov, a member of the Krasnoselsky district council in Moscow, was sentenced to seven years in prison after making anti-war comments at a council meeting in March.{{cite news |last1=Karev |first1=Andrey |title='I'll be exonerated much sooner than this' |url=https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/07/10/ill-be-exonerated-much-sooner-than-this |work=Novaya Gazeta Europa |date=10 July 2022 |access-date=13 July 2022 |archive-date=12 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712100422/https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/07/10/ill-be-exonerated-much-sooner-than-this |url-status=live }} Lawyer Pavel Chikov said that this was the first jail term under the new Russian 2022 war censorship laws.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62092196|title=Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow politician gets 7 years for denouncing war|website=BBC News|date=8 July 2022|access-date=13 July 2022|archive-date=10 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710011020/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62092196|url-status=live}} According to Amnesty International, as of June 2023, up to 20,000 Russian citizens had been subject to heavy reprisals for opposing the war in Ukraine.{{cite news |title=Russia: 20,000 activists subject to heavy reprisals as Russia continues to crack down on anti-war movement at home |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/07/russia-20000-activists-subject-to-heavy-reprisals-as-russia-continues-to-crack-down-on-anti-war-movement-at-home/ |work=Amnesty International |date=20 July 2023}}

In October 2023, Putin's close associate Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma, said that Russians who "desire the victory of the murderous Nazi Kyiv regime" should be sent to the far-eastern region of Magadan, known for its Stalin-era Gulag camps, and forced to work in the mines.{{cite news |title=Returning Russians who backed Ukraine must be sent to the mines, says Putin ally |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-12/putin-ally-says-traitorous-returnees-deserve-harsh-treatment/102966078 |work=ABC News |date=11 October 2023}} In November 2023, Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel that Russians who left the country after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and are now returning "should understand that no one here is waiting for them with open arms" because they "committed treason against Russia".{{cite news |title=Russian State Duma speaker says 'traitors' who left after Ukraine invasion not welcome in Russia |url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2023/11/25/russian-state-duma-speaker-says-traitors-who-left-after-ukraine-invasion-not-welcome-in-russia |work=Meduza |date=25 November 2023}}

{{main|Russian partisan movement (2022–present)}}

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, numerous armed pro-democratic, and anti-authoritarian partisan and insurgent groups have sprung up within Russia in open rebellion with the aim of sabotaging the war effort and overthrowing Putin and his regime.{{Cite web|date=August 12, 2022|title=Коктейли Молотова и рельсовая война — стратегия новой российской оппозиции. Роман Попков поговорил с "партизанами" об их методах борьбы |trans-title=Molotov cocktails and rail war: the strategy of the new Russian opposition. Roman Popkov speaks with the "partisans" about their methods of struggle|url=https://vot-tak.tv/novosti/09-08-2022-guerrilla/|website=БелСат|language=ru}} These groups primarily engage in guerrilla warfare against the state and utilize the destruction of infrastructure such as railways, military recruitment centers, and radio towers, as well as other means to harm the state such as conducting assassinations. Some of the most notable groups involved in the conflict include the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists (BOAK) regarded by The Insider as "The most active 'subversive' force" within Russia since the war began, the National Republican Army,{{Cite web |last=Smart |first=Jason Jay |date=2022-08-23 |title=Exclusive interview: Russia's NRA Begins Activism |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/exclusive-interview-russias-nra-begins-activism.html |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Kyiv Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709232921/https://www.kyivpost.com/post/6613|archive-date=July 9, 2023}} the Freedom of Russia Legion,{{Cite web |date=2022-08-31 |title=Российская оппозиция начинает вооруженное сопротивление Путину: подписано декларацию |url=https://glavcom.ua/ru/news/mozhovoj-tsentr-sverzhenija-rezhima-putina-budet-dejstvovat-v-ukraine-872092.html |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Главком {{!}} Glavcom |language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529204433/https://glavcom.ua/ru/news/mozhovoj-tsentr-sverzhenija-rezhima-putina-budet-dejstvovat-v-ukraine-872092.html|archive-date=May 29, 2023}} and the far-right Russian Volunteer Corps.{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-russians-end-up-far-right-militia-fighting-ukraine-2023-05-11/ |title=How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine |website=Reuters|date=11 May 2023 |last1=Pikulicka-Wilczewska |first1=Agnieszka |last2=Pikulicka-Wilczewska |first2=Agnieszka }}

{{main|Wagner Group rebellion}}

On June 23, 2023, forces loyal to Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner Group began a mutiny against the Russian government. The group justified their revolt by citing the Russian Ministry of Defence's mishandling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (namely blaming Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Minister of Defense), as well as claiming the Russian army shelled one of the Wagner group's barracks, resulting in casualties. Wagner occupied the city of Rostov-on-Don, surrounding and then seizing the headquarters of the Southern Military District. Prigozhin vowed to march on Moscow and arrest Shoigu, and other Russian generals, and put them on trial for murder of Wagner personnel.{{multiref2|1={{Cite news |last1=Osborn |first1=Andrew |last2=Liffey |first2=Kevin |date=23 June 2023 |title=Russia accuses mercenary boss of mutiny after he says Moscow killed 2,000 of his men |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-mercenary-boss-says-moscows-war-ukraine-based-lies-2023-06-23/ |access-date=23 June 2023 |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623173129/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-mercenary-boss-says-moscows-war-ukraine-based-lies-2023-06-23/ |url-status=live}}|2={{Cite news |last1=Cooney |first1=Christy |last2=Seales |first2=Rebecca |date=23 June 2023 |title=Russia accuses Wagner chief of urging 'armed mutiny' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66005256 |url-status=live |access-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623201823/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66005256 |archive-date=23 June 2023}}|3={{Cite web |last=Dress |first=Brad |date=2023-06-23 |title=Wagner chief says Russia's war in Ukraine intended to benefit elites, accuses Moscow of lying |url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4064431-wagner-chief-says-russias-war-in-ukraine-intended-to-benefit-elites-accuses-moscow-of-lying/ |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}|4={{Cite web |title='All the way': Wagner head escalates threats with Russia military |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/23/russian-authorities-launch-criminal-probe-into-wagner-group |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}|5={{Cite news |last=Sauer |first=Pjotr |date=2023-06-23 |title=Wagner chief accuses Moscow of lying to public about Ukraine |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/23/wagner-chief-accuses-moscow-of-lying-to-public-about-ukraine-yevgeny-prigozhin |access-date=2023-06-24 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623183228/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/23/wagner-chief-accuses-moscow-of-lying-to-public-about-ukraine-yevgeny-prigozhin |url-status=live }}|6={{Cite news |last=Sauer |first=Pjotr |date=2023-06-23 |title=Russia investigates Wagner chief for 'armed mutiny' after call for attack on military |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/23/wagner-chief-accuses-russias-military-of-attack-and-says-evil-leadership-must-be-stopped |access-date=2023-06-24 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624004806/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/23/wagner-chief-accuses-russias-military-of-attack-and-says-evil-leadership-must-be-stopped |url-status=live }}|7={{Cite news |first1=Tom |last1=Williams |first2=Dan |last2=Nancarrow|date=2023-06-24 |title=Live: Wagner fighters allegedly march into Russia, with leader vowing to go 'all the way' against military |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-24/live-wanger-mercenaries-russia-rostov-yevgeny-prigozhin-mutiny/102519712 |access-date=2023-06-24}}|8={{Cite web |last1=Gavin |first1=Gabriel |last2=Ross |first2=Tim |last3=Sheftalovich |first3=Zoya |date=2023-06-23 |title=Putin in crisis: Wagner chief Prigozhin declares war on Russian military leadership, says 'we will destroy everything' |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/putin-in-crisis-as-wagner-chief-prigozhin-declares-war-on-russian-military-leadership/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623231535/https://www.politico.eu/article/putin-in-crisis-as-wagner-chief-prigozhin-declares-war-on-russian-military-leadership/ |archive-date=23 June 2023 |access-date=2023-06-24 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}}}{{Update inline|date=September 2023|reason=the mutiny ended, and the wagner boss died/was assassinated}}

There were no sizeable spontaneous displays of public support for the Putin government during the rebellion.{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Shaun |date=2023-06-27 |title=Putin's portrayal of response to uprising as a Kremlin win is proving a hard sell |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/27/putins-portrayal-of-response-to-uprising-as-a-kremlin-win-is-proving-a-hard-sell |access-date=2023-06-28 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=28 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628151437/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/27/putins-portrayal-of-response-to-uprising-as-a-kremlin-win-is-proving-a-hard-sell |url-status=live }} The Russian population displayed a predominantly "silent" and apathetic reaction.{{Cite news |last=Aron |first=Leon |date=2023-06-25 |title='The People Are Silent': The Main Reason the Wagner Mutiny Bodes Ill for Putin |language=en |work=Politico |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/06/25/mutiny-bodes-ill-for-putin-00103571 |url-status=live |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629011641/https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/06/25/mutiny-bodes-ill-for-putin-00103571 |archive-date=29 June 2023}}{{Cite news |date=2023-06-28 |title=Russians Greeted Wagner Mutiny With a Shrug and Internet Jokes |language=en |work=Bloomberg News |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-28/russia-citizens-greeted-wagner-mutiny-with-internet-memes |url-status=live |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628170642/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-28/russia-citizens-greeted-wagner-mutiny-with-internet-memes |archive-date=28 June 2023}} Russia analyst Anna Matveeva contrasted the Russian public's response to that of the Turkish public during the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, where numerous Turkish citizens actively participated in anti-coup demonstrations.{{Cite news |last=Stewart |first=Briar |date=27 June 2023 |title=Why average Russians did not rush to streets to defend Putin. But some rallied for Wagner troops |work=CBC |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-wagner-revolt-indifference-analysis-1.6888557 |url-status=live |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627231716/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-wagner-revolt-indifference-analysis-1.6888557 |archive-date=27 June 2023}}

{{main|2024 Russian presidential election}}

Putin was due to have to stand down as president in 2024 due to term limits in Russia's constitution,{{cite news |title=Putin backs amendment allowing him to remain in power |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-backs-amendment-allowing-him-remain-power-n1154101 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=NBC News |date=10 March 2020}} but it was widely expected that he would attempt to stay in power through certain means such as changing the constitution, even though Putin claimed otherwise in 2018.{{cite news |title=The Rocky Road to Replacing Vladimir Putin |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2019/04/rocky-road-replacing-vladimir-putin |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=Chatham House |date=16 April 2019}}{{cite news |title=Putin's 2024 Problem: Election Win Raises Curtain On Clouded Future |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-2024-election-raises-curtain-on-clouded-future/29107186.html |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=RFE/RL |date=18 March 2018}}{{cite news |title=Putin backs proposal allowing him to remain in power in Russia beyond 2024 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/10/vladimir-putin-amendment-power-russia-2024 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=10 March 2020}} As predicted, Putin announced that constitutional changes would be proposed allowing him to stay in power until 2036 by "resetting" his terms, widely criticised by opponents, and these changes were then 'approved' in a disputed referendum in which independent election monitors received hundreds of reports of violations and state employees were deliberately prompted to vote in favour.{{cite news |title=Putin wins referendum on constitutional reforms |url=https://www.dw.com/en/russias-putin-wins-referendum-on-constitutional-reforms/a-54018337 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=DW News |date=7 February 2020}} Leader of the opposition Alexei Navalny dismissed the legitimacy of the poll and denounced the changes, saying that they would make Putin "president for life".

File:Boris Nadezhdin.jpg attempted to run in the 2024 election, with polls and precictions indicating that he was in second place behind Putin and ahead of the other three candidates' projected vote share combined. Kremlinologist Mikhail Zygar said that he had become Russia's "second-most-popular politician"{{cite news |title=Authorities prepare to stop Boris Nadezhdin running for president |url=https://en.thebell.io/authorities-prepare-to-stop-boris-nadezhdin-running-for-president/ |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=The Bell |date=7 February 2024}}{{cite news |title='It would show something is wrong' Meduza's sources say Kremlin barred anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin after fears he would get over 10 percent of presidential vote |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/02/08/it-would-show-something-is-wrong |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=Meduza |date=8 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Russia bars candidate Boris Nadezhdin, who campaigned to end Ukraine war, from election |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-russia-bars-election-candidate-who-campaigned-to-end-ukraine-war/ |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=8 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Boris Nadezhdin: 'I Learned from Navalny's Mistakes' |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/02/23/boris-nadezhdin-i-learned-from-navalnys-mistakes-a84206 |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=Moscow Times |date=23 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Russian Elections Have a Purpose, But Not Evicting the Regime |url=https://cepa.org/article/russian-elections-have-a-purpose-but-not-evicting-the-regime/ |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=Center for European Policy Analysis |date=14 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Putin's Puppets Are Coming to Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/opinion/putin-russia-election-nadezhdin.html |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=15 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Short-lived rise of Boris Nadezhdin, Putin's 'anti-war' opponent |url=https://kyivindependent.com/kremlin-bans-unlikely-anti-war-challenger-from-running-against-putin-in-upcoming-elections/ |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=Kyiv Independent |date=8 February 2024}}]]

Journalist Yekaterina Duntsova tried to run in the 2024 election on a platform opposing the war in Ukraine, commenting: "Any sane person taking this step would be afraid - but fear must not win".{{Cite web |last=Latypova |first=Leyla |date=2023-11-22 |title=Meet Putin's Possible Election Opponent: A Single Mother of 3 Calling for Peace |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/11/22/meet-putins-possible-election-opponent-a-single-mother-of-3-calling-for-peace-a83181 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}} However, she was quickly barred from running by the Central Election Commission, which claimed that she had made '100 mistakes' such as spelling errors on her forms and so should be denied registration.{{cite news |title=Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67810463 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=23 December 2023}}{{cite web |publisher=The Moscow Times |title=Pro-Peace Putin Challenger Blocked From Ballot |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/12/23/pro-peace-putin-challenger-blocked-from-ballot-a83546 |website=themoscowtimes.com |language=en |date=23 December 2023 }}{{cite news |title=Russia finds 'errors' in paperwork of candidate hoping to stand against Putin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/02/russia-says-dead-souls-found-among-anti-war-candidate-boris-nadezhdin-backers |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=2 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Would-be Putin challenger Yekaterina Duntsova loses appeal to run in Russia's 2024 presidential election |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-28/yekaterina-duntsova-loses-appeal-to-run-in-2024-russian-election/103268622 |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=ABC News |date=27 December 2023}} The BBC reported on Dunstova's rejection that: "the immediate slap-down of a Putin critic will be seen as evidence by some that no dissent will be tolerated in the campaign". The nationalist and previously pro-Putin Igor Girkin, who also attempted to become a candidate, openly declared that the election was a "sham", stating that "the only winner is known in advance" and "I understand perfectly well that in the current situation in Russia, participating in the presidential campaign is like sitting down at a table to play with card sharps".{{cite news |title=Putin critic Girkin wants to stand in Russia presidential election |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67467830 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=19 November 2023}} Girkin, a former FSB agent, was later sentenced to four years imprisonment.{{cite news |title=Russia jails nationalist critic Igor Girkin for four years over 'extremism' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/25/russia-jails-nationalist-critic-igor-girkin-for-four-years-over-extremism |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=AlJazeera |date=25 January 2024}}

File:Berlin rally after Navalny's murder asv2024-02-16 img20.jpgs in Russia, February 2024]]

Boris Nadezhdin declared his intention to run on a platform of opposing Putin and the Ukraine war.{{cite news |title=Meet Boris Nadezhdin, Vladimir Putin's brave challenger |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/02/01/meet-boris-nadezhdin-vladimir-putins-brave-challenger |access-date=18 February 2024 |newspaper=The Economist |date=1 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Putin challenger Boris Nadezhdin barred from Russia's election |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68237791 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=8 February 2024}} He quickly gained support, and queues formed in towns and villages across Russia and outside Boris Nadezhdin's headquarters in Moscow to sign their name in support of his bid for presidency.{{Cite web |title=The anti-war candidate channelling Russians' discontent with Putin |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c45323d0-d064-426c-912d-8400092100e0 |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.ft.com}}{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=Russians queue to register election candidate opposed to Ukraine offensive |url=https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240123-russians-queue-to-register-election-candidate-opposed-to-ukraine-offensive |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=France 24 |language=en}} Footage showed how many thousands had queued even in the snow to sign their names, and he garnered "surprise levels of support", especially from younger urban Russians.{{cite news |title=Russia blocks Boris Nadezhdin from presidential election: DW News |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsejFzVFPMM |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=DW News |date=8 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Who is Boris Nadezhdin, Putin challenger who hopes to run in Russia presidential election |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIPrPSCwNkA&t=330s |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=Channel 4 News |date=8 December 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Talmazan |first1=Yuliya |title=Russia bars anti-war Putin critic Boris Nadezhdin from next month's election |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-bans-boris-nadezhdin-running-putin-election-anti-war-campaign-rcna137419 |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=NBC News |date=8 February 2024}} The number of Russians who had turned up to sign their names was so unexpectedly high that extra sign-up centres had to be added in Moscow. In what was described as something "seemingly unachievable in Russian politics", Nadezhdin managed to unify many prominent opposition politicians and public figures behind his campaign and gained their endorsements: Yekaterina Duntsova (who had previously been barred{{Cite news |last= |date=2023-12-23 |title=Yekaterina Duntsova barred from running against Putin in election |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/would-be-putin-challenger-duntsova-barred-running-election-campaign-team-2023-12-23/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |work=Reuters |language=en |issn=}}{{Cite web |title=Russia bars ex-journalist Duntsova from running in presidential election |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/23/russia-bars-yekaterina-duntsova-from-contesting-in-presidential-election |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}), Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Ekaterina Schulmann, Yulia Navalnaya (wife of Alexei Navalny), Ilya Varlamov, Lyubov Sobol and many others.{{Cite news |date=2024-01-22 |title=Оппозиционные политики призвали поддержать выдвижение Надеждина |url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/oppozitsionnye-politiki-prizvali-podderzhatj-vydvizhenie-nadezhdina/32786383.html |access-date=2024-01-31 |work=Радио Свобода |language=ru}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/yuriy-shevchuk-zapisal-video-v-podderzhku-borisa-nadezhdina/32792046.html|title=Юрий Шевчук записал видео в поддержку Бориса Надеждина|language=ru|newspaper=Радио Свобода|date=25 January 2024 |access-date=2024-01-26}}{{Cite web |date=2024-01-22 |title="Безопасное политическое действие". Почему выстроились очереди подписывающихся за участие Бориса Надеждина в выборах президента России |url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/c84nlv28jnpo |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=BBC News Русская служба |language=ru}}{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/news/2024/01/24/yuliya-navalnaya-postavila-podpis-za-borisa-nadezhdina-on-prodolzhaet-sobirat-podpisi-dlya-vydvizheniya-v-prezidenty-rf|title=Юлия Навальная поставила подпись за выдвижение Бориса Надеждина в президенты России|language=ru|website=Meduza|access-date=2024-01-24}} Russia's main opposition leader Navalny also passed a message from his imprisonment giving his backing to Nadezhdin's campaign. Navalny had himself been barred from the previous Russian presidential election in 2018 on what is widely seen as political grounds.

File:Igor Ivanovich Strelkov Yekaterinburg3.JPG former FSB agent Igor Girkin openly declared that the upcoming 2024 presidential election was a "sham" and "the only winner is known in advance". He was subsequently imprisoned for insulting Putin and not allowed to run.{{cite news |title=Russian hardline Putin critic and commander Strelkov detained in Moscow |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66265892 |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=21 July 2023}}{{cite news |title=Igor Girkin shot down a passenger jet, then insulted Putin. Which one put him in jail? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68091877 |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=25 January 2024}}{{cite news |title=Russian nationalist who wanted to run against Putin to stay in detention |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-nationalist-who-wanted-run-against-putin-stay-detention-2023-12-07/ |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=Reuters |date=7 December 2023}}]]

Multiple sources, including from inside the Kremlin, stated that the Kremlin would likely seek to deny Nadezhdin a place on the ballot.{{cite news |title=Kremlin propagandists finally acknowledge anti-war presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin, and — surprise! — they say Kyiv and Russia's exiled opposition are controlling him |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/02/02/kremlin-propagandists-finally-acknowledge-anti-war-presidential-hopeful-boris-nadezhdin-and-surprise-they-say-kyiv-and-russia-s-exiled-opposition-are-controlling-him |work=Meduza |date=2 February 2024}}{{cite news |title='Hope for Change' or 'Kremlin Spoiler': Who Is Boris Nadezhdin, the Presidential Hopeful Uniting Pro-Peace Russians? |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/01/23/hope-for-change-or-kremlin-spoiler-who-is-boris-nadezhdin-the-presidential-hopeful-uniting-pro-peace-russians-a83824 |work=The Moscow Times |date=25 January 2024}}{{cite news |title=Putin's antiwar rival blocked from contesting Russia presidential election |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/8/putins-anti-war-rival-blocked-from-contesting-russia-presidential-election |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=AlJazeera |date=8 February 2024}} The CEC regularly uses the process of having to collect signatures to refuse to register would-be opposition candidates, acting as a form of filter to stop unwanted developments for the Kremlin.{{cite news |title=Russian Anti-War Candidacy Bid An Unexpected Obstacle In Kremlin's Effort To Smoothly Reinstall Putin |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-anti-war-presidency-election-kremlin-obstacle-putin/32798410.html |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=RFE/RL |date=30 January 2024}} On 30 January 2024, Kremlin propagandist and television presenter Vladimir Solovyov warned Nadezhdin: "I feel bad for Boris. The fool didn’t realize that he’s not being set up to run for president but for a criminal case on charges of betraying the Motherland."

As predicted, on 8 February 2024 Nadezhdin was barred from running due to alleged "irregularities" in the signatures of voters supporting his candidacy.{{cite news |title=Russian anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin banned from election |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/08/russian-anti-war-candidate-boris-nadezhdin-says-he-is-barred-from-election |work=The Guardian |date=8 February 2024}} The election commission claimed that only 95,587 of his signatures in support of his candidacy were valid, just short of the 100,000 needed to run. His team said that some of the "errors" the election commission had claimed existed were merely minor typos that happened when handwritten names were put into its computers.{{cite news |title=Russia blocks war critic Nadezhdin from facing Putin in presidential vote |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240208-russia-blocks-anti-war-nadezhdin-from-running-against-putin-in-presidential-vote |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=France24 |date=8 February 2024}} Nadezhdin published evidence of this, showing Mayakovsky Street typed up as 'Myakovsky Street', the city of Salekhard misspelled as 'Salikhard', and one address in Rostov-on-Don typed up as 'Rostov-on-Dom'.{{cite news |title='This constitutes election obstruction' Putin challenger Boris Nadezhdin says Russia's Central Election Commission invalidated some signatures in support of candidacy due to its own misspellings |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/02/07/this-constitutes-election-obstruction |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=Meduza |date=7 February 2024}} Nadezhdin explained that the commission then used this to reject these signatures on the grounds that the address of these people "did not match". The commission also dubiously claimed that there were eleven dead people on Nadezhdin's list of signatures and that this disqualified his entire list of 105,000 signatures – which was in fact more than the 100,000 required to run.{{cite news |title=Russia bars antiwar candidate from challenging Putin in March election |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/boris-nadezhdin-antiwar-candidate-putin/ |access-date=9 March 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=8 February 2024}} The press contacted the man whose address had been incorrectly entered as 'Rostov-on-Dom', and he confirmed he had indeed added his signature in support of Nadezhdin's candidacy, saying "this constitutes election obstruction".

File:Action in memory of Alexei Navalny in St. Petersburg on February 16, 2024.jpg in St. Petersburg on 16 February 2024]]

As well as endorsing Nadezhdin, Alexei Navalny and his allies had called on supporters to protest Putin during the third day of the presidential election by all going to vote against him at the same time.{{cite news |title=Navalny Calls for Election Day Protest Against Putin, Ukraine Invasion |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/02/01/navalny-calls-for-election-day-protest-against-putin-ukraine-invasion-a83946 |work=The Moscow Times |date=1 February 2024}} Navalny then died in suspicious circumstances in his harsh imprisonment at a prison colony in the Arctic Circle, aged only 47, on 16 February 2024.{{cite news |title='They're doing everything to avoid handing over his body': Kremlin plays for time after Navalny's death |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/17/kremlin-plays-for-time-after-alexei-navalny-death |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=17 February 2024}}{{cite news |title='They killed him': Was Putin's critic Navalny murdered? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/17/they-killed-him-was-putins-critic-navalny-murdered |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=AlJazeera |date=17 February 2024}} After his death, Russians began bringing flowers to monuments to victims of political repression in cities across the country.{{cite news |title=Navalny tributes removed by group of masked men as Moscow police look on |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/navalny-death-putin-moscow-russia-b2497843.html |work=The Independent |date=17 February 2024}} People laid flowers at Moscow's Solovetsky Stone and the Wall of Grief.{{cite news |title=Moscow police begin arresting people leaving flowers in memorial of Alexey Navalny |url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2024/02/17/moscow-police-begin-arresting-people-leaving-flowers-in-memorial-of-alexey-navalny |work=Meduza |date=17 February 2024}} The Moscow Prosecutor's Office warned Russians against mass protests.{{cite news |title=Russia's most famous opposition figure has died in prison |url=https://meduza.io/en/live/2024/02/16/alexey-navalny-is-dead |work=Meduza |date=16 February 2024 |access-date=16 February 2024 |archive-date=16 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216165528/https://meduza.io/en/live/2024/02/16/alexey-navalny-is-dead |url-status=live }} Hundreds of people across more than 30 Russian cities were detained by police merely for attending makeshift memorials to Navalny.

The authorities further aroused suspicion by refusing to release Navalny's body to his family for over a week after his death, with his wife stating that his body was being kept until traces of intentional poisoning by Novichok had disappeared.{{cite news |title=Navalny's family demands return of his body as hundreds detained at memorials across Russia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/alexei-navalny-death-murder-russia-kremlin-b2497964.html |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=The Independent |date=17 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny: Mother demands Putin return son's body |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68346871 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=20 February 2020}}{{cite news |title=Authorities return body of Alexei Navalny to mother 8 days after death |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68393412 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=24 February 2024}} He had previously been poisoned with Novichok by the Russian secret services in 2020, which had only been discovered at the time as an emergency evacuation had been arranged to the specialist Charité hospital in Berlin, which then carried out the tests which identified the poison.{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny: Russia opposition leader poisoned with Novichok - Germany |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54002880 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=2 September 2020}} Navalny's mother attempted to go to the prison colony he died in to collect Navalny's body, but was repeatedly obstructed from doing so and instead sent to a morgue where his body had never been taken, and not told where his body was. She was then reportedly threatened to agree to a 'secret' burial of Navalny, or else he would be buried at the prison, being given only three hours to agree to the ultimatum.{{cite news |title=Navalny's mother resisting pressure for 'secret funeral', opposition says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/23/alexei-navalny-mother-forced-into-secret-funeral-for-son#:~:text=Navalny%27s%20mother%20resisting%20pressure%20for%20%27secret%20funeral%27%2C%20opposition%20says,-Lyudmila%20Navalnaya%20given&text=Russian%20authorities%20told%20Alexei%20Navalny%27s,funeral%2C%20Navalny%27s%20spokesperson%20has%20said. |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=23 February 2024}} She refused to negotiate and demanded authorities complied with the law obliging investigators to hand over the body within two days of determining the causes of death. Navalny's wife was then forced to sign a death certificate claiming he had died of natural causes, with authorities claiming he had collapsed and died of "sudden death syndrome". Such a scenario is deemed to be suspicious due to multiple other 'sudden deaths' of those who have criticised Putin, such as Ravil Maganov and Yevgeny Prigozhin.{{cite news |title=What we know about Alexei Navalny's death in Arctic Circle prison |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68318742 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=20 February 2024}} Independent analysts also reject the authorities' medical explanations for his death. More than 50,000 Russians sent requests to the Russian government demanding that they return his body to his family.{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny: What we know about the death of Putin's critic |url=https://news.sky.com/story/alexei-navalny-what-we-know-about-the-death-of-russias-opposition-leader-13072969 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=Sky News |date=19 February 2024}}

File:Yulia Navalnaya- “If you want to defeat Putin, fight his criminal gang” - 53559454886.jpg suspiciously died in February 2024, his widow Yulia Navalnaya pledged to continue his work, asking Russians to "stand beside me"]]

The authorities belatedly returned Navalny's body eight days after his death, and upon his burial on Moscow thousands defied likely repression to appear in the streets to chant his name and their opposition to Putin.{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny: Crowds chant defiance as they bid farewell to Navalny |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68450219 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=1 March 2024}} 250,000 people also watched a livestream of his funeral provided by his team, despite apparent attempts by the authorities to interrupt internet coverage.{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny funeral draws thousands to heavily policed Moscow church |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/01/alexei-navalny-funeral-draws-thousands-to-heavily-policed-moscow-church |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=1 March 2024}} The crowds who attended chanted "no to war", "Russia without Putin" and "Russia will be free", even though there was a noticeable police presence. The funeral ceremony was also attended by Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova, the two opposition candidates who had been barred from running against Putin in the presidential election, with Nadezhdin stating: "We have come to say goodbye to a person who was a symbol of an era. There is still hope that everything will be all right and Russia will be free and peaceful as Alexei had dreamed".

There was widespread international condemnation of Russian authorities for Navalny's death. US President Biden commented "there is no doubt that the death of Mr Navalny was a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did", whilst French president Emmanuel Macron remarked on his "anger and indignation", adding: "in today's Russia, free spirits are put in the gulag and sentenced to death". Germany's government called for the release of political prisoners in Russia, with a spokesman commenting: "It is shocking that people are being arrested in Russia for laying flowers in honour of Alexei Navalny's death".

After Navalny's death his wife Yulia Navalnaya said that she would continue his work, asking Russians to "stand beside me" and "share the fury and hate for those who dared to kill our future".{{cite news |title=Navalny's Widow Pledges to Carry On Opposition Leader's Work |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/world/europe/navalny-death-investigation.html |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=19 February 2024}}{{cite news |title='Stand Beside Me': Navalny's Widow Promises to Carry on His Work |url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/europe/100000009320371/yulia-navalnaya-aleksei-navalny-russia.html |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=19 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya vows to continue his work |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68337790 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=19 February 2024}} She appeared before the European Parliament on 28 February 2024 and was given a standing ovation for her emotional speech, in which she stated that defeating Putin requires innovation instead of only applying sanctions and resolutions against his regime.{{cite news |title=To defeat Putin, stop being boring, Yulia Navalnaya tells MEPs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-68422657 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=28 February 2024}} In March, she reiterated Navalny's request for Russians to protest at the presidential election by all turning up and forming long queues at polling stations at midday on 17 March, since it was a protest action that could show the strength of anti-Putin feeling without the authorities being able to prevent it or arrest people for it.{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny: Widow urges Russians to protest on election day |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68479832 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=6 March 2024}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Zhanna Agalakova{{cite news |title=Ukraine war: Troops could quit Severodonetsk amid Russian advance - official |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61613479 |access-date=27 January 2024 |work=BBC News |date=27 May 2022}}{{cite news |title=Making Putin Great (Again and Again) – Zhanna Agalakova |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/10/07/making-putin-great-again-and-again-zhanna-agalakova-a79017 |access-date=27 January 2024 |work=Moscow Times |date=15 December 2022}}
• Liya Akhedzhakova{{cite news |title=Russian Actress, Kremlin Critic Akhedzhakova Leaves Moscow Theater Amid Pressure |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-actress-kremlin-critic-akhedzhakova-leaves-moscow-theater/32341953.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=RFE/RL |date=30 March 2023}}{{cite news |title=Moscow Theater Cancels Plays With Kremlin Critic Liya Akhedzhakova |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/09/moscow-theater-cancels-plays-with-kremlin-critic-liya-akhedzhakova-a80188 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Moscow Times |date=9 February 2023}}
• Malik Akhmedilov{{cite news |title=Abdulmalik Akhmedilov |url=https://cpj.org/data/people/abdulmalik-akhmedilov/ |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=Committee to Protect Journalists |date=11 August 2009}}* †
• Georgy Alburov{{cite news |title=Russia: Two years after Aleksei Navalny's arrest, Russian opposition figures suppressed, jailed or exiled |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/01/russia-two-years-after-aleksei-navalnys-arrest-russian-opposition-figures-suppressed-jailed-or-exiled/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Amnesty International |date=23 January 2023}}
• Lyudmila Alexeyeva{{cite news |title='Wise and humane': Soviet dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva dies aged 91 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/09/wise-and-humane-soviet-dissident-lyudmila-alexeyeva-dies-aged-91 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=9 December 2018}}*{{efn|Died in 2018}}
• Maria Alyokhina{{cite news |title=Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina says she escaped Russia dressed as a food courier |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/11/entertainment/maria-alyokhina-pussy-riot-moscow-escape-cec/index.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=CNN |date=12 May 2022}}
• Maximilian Andronnikov, a.k.a. "Caesar"{{cite news|title='We are Russians just like you': anti-Putin militias enter the spotlight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ay/24/russian-anti-putin-militias-belgorod |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=24 May 2023}}*
• Vladimir Ashurkov{{cite news |title=Russian opposition activist Vladimir Ashurkov is granted asylum in UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/01/russian-opposition-activist-is-granted-asylum-in-uk |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=1 April 2015}}
• Ilya Azar{{cite news |title=In Moscow, Putin's opponents chalk up a symbolic victory |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/moscow-vladimir-putin-election-opponents-chalk-up-symbolic-victory/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Politico |date=15 September 2017}}
• Farid Babayev{{cite news |title=Russian opposition election candidate shot |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-shooting-idUSL2147085720071121 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Reuters |date=21 November 2007}}*†
• Anastasia Baburova{{cite news |title=Here are 10 critics of Vladimir Putin who died violently or in suspicious ways |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/23/here-are-ten-critics-of-vladimir-putin-who-died-violently-or-in-suspicious-ways/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=23 April 2017}}* †
• Mikhail Beketov{{cite news |title=Russian Khimki forest journalist Mikhail Beketov dies |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22078842 |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=9 April 2013}}* †
• Nikita Belykh{{cite news |title=Russian opposition leader found guilty of embezzlement; his lawyers pledge to appeal |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-opposition-20170208-story.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Los Angeles Town |date=8 February 2017}}*{{efn|Since 2018 has been imprisoned}}
• Boris Berezovsky{{cite news |title=Boris Berezovsky: Russia remembers 'controversial figure' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-21915567 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=24 March 2014}}* †{{efn|In exile since 2000, subject to an Interpol Red Notice by the Russian government, found dead in mysterious circumstances in 2013}}
• Darya Besedina{{cite news |title=Congratulations, You're an Elected Russian Opposition Official! Now What? |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/02/03/congratulations-youre-an-elected-russian-opposition-official-now-what-a69120 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Moscow Times |date=3 February 2020}}
• Nikolai Bondarenko{{cite news |title=Will a New Generation of Russians Modernize Their Country? |url=https://carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/86355 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Carengie |date=4 February 2022}}
• Dmitry Bykov{{cite news |title=Another Putin critic reportedly targeted in Kremlin 2019 poisoning operation |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/world/russia-poisoning-critic-putin-b1862702.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Independent |date=9 June 2019}}*{{efn|Survived a suspected poisoning in 2019}}
• Yuriy Chervochkin{{cite news |title=The National Bolshevik was buried under guard |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/Doc-y/836028 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Kommersant |date=14 December 2007}}* †
• Alexei Devotchenko{{cite news |title=Anti-Putin activist found dead in Moscow home |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/06/alexei-devotchenko-anti-putin-activist-dead |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=6 November 2014}}* †
• Roman Dobrokhotov{{cite news |title=The brave journalists risking all to hold Vladimir Putin to account |url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news-europe-news-alexei-navalny-and-putin-critics-7391106/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The New European |date=17 February 2021}}*{{efn|In exile since 2021, warrant for his arrest issued by Russian government}}
• Yury Dud{{cite news |title=Russian regulator warns local media over coverage of Ukraine war |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/26/russian-regulator-warns-local-media-over-coverage-ukraine-war |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=AlJazeera |date=26 February 2020}}*{{efn|In exile since 2022, designated a "foreign agent" by the Russian government}}
• Yekaterina Duntsova{{cite news |title=Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67810463 |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=BBC News |date=23 December 2023}}
• Natalya Estemirova* †
• Tatyana Felgenhauer{{cite news |title='Nobody defends us': Russian journalists respond to knife attack |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/23/russian-radio-journalist-tatyana-felgenhauer-stabbed-in-neck-at-her-moscow-office |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=23 October 2017}}{{cite news |title='Not a single person in Vilnius was aggressive when they heard I was from Russia' – interview with Russian journalist |url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1854109/not-a-single-person-in-vilnius-was-aggressive-when-they-heard-i-was-from-russia-interview-with-russian-journalist |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=LRT |date=1 January 2023}}*{{efn|Survived an attempted murder in 2017, currently in exile}}
• Sergei Furgal*{{efn|Since 2020 has been imprisoned}}
• Maria Gaidar{{cite news |title=Daughter of ex-Russian PM, defying Kremlin, eyes top post in key Ukraine region |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-maria-gaidar-idINKCN0PU1YN20150720 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Reuters |date=20 July 2015}}*{{efn|Currently lives abroad}}
• Yegor Gaidar{{cite news |title=Former Russian PM Gaidar poisoned, say his doctors |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/former-russian-pm-gaidar-poisoned-say-his-doctors-426569.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Independent |date=1 December 2006}}*{{efn|Survived a poisoning in 2006, died unexpectedly at 53 in 2009}} †
• Maxim Galkin{{cite news |title=Russian star and Putin critic Maxim Galkin packs out Irish venue for live show tonight |url=https://www.independent.ie/news/russian-star-and-putin-critic-maxim-galkin-packs-out-irish-venue-for-live-show-tonight/41939457.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Independent.ie |date=26 August 2022}}*{{efn|In exile since 2022, designated a "foreign agent" by the Russian government}}
• Alexey Gaskarov{{cite news |title=This Russian man got three years in prison for trying to protect a fellow protester |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2014/08/20/what-one-russian-man-got-trying-protect-fellow-protestor-three-years-prison |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=The World from PRX |date=20 August 2014}}
• Igor Girkin{{cite news |title=Putin critic Girkin wants to stand in Russia presidential election |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67467830 |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=BBC News |date=19 November 2023}}{{cite news |title=Russia arrests pro-war Putin critic Igor Girkin, according to reports |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/21/russia-arrests-pro-war-putin-critic-igor-girkin-reports |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=21 July 2023}}*{{efn|Sentenced to four years imprisonment in a penal colony in 2024 for insulting Putin{{cite news |title=Igor Girkin shot down a passenger jet, then insulted Putin. Which one put him in jail? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68091877 |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=BBC News |date=19 November 2023}}}}
• Nikolai Glushkov{{cite news |title=Nikolai Glushkov: Putin critic 'strangled in London home by third party' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56695489 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=9 April 2021}}* †
• Alexei Gorinov{{cite news |title=Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow politician gets 7 years for denouncing war |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62092196 |access-date=27 January 2024 |work=BBC News |date=8 July 2022}}*{{efn|Sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in 2022 for objecting to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine}}
• Dmitry Gudkov*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Gennady Gudkov{{cite news |title=Russian Duma expels anti-Putin MP Gennady Gudkov |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19601752 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=14 September 2012}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Andrey Illarionov{{cite news |title=Agent of chaos: How to read Putin's lies, U-turns and retreats |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/kherson-vladimir-putin-ukraine-russia-war/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Politico |date=12 November 2012}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Boris Kagarlitsky{{cite news |title=Boris Kagarlitsky: In the Eye of the Storm |url=https://www.historicalmaterialism.org/article/boris-kagarlitsky-in-the-eye-of-the-storm/ |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=Historical Materealism |date=28 May 2025}}*{{efn|name=imprisoned since 2023}}
• Marina Kalashnikova*{{efn|Survived a mercury poisoning with her husband in exile in 2010}}
• Viktor Kalashnikov{{cite news |title=A history of political poisonings |url=https://www.dw.com/en/a-history-of-political-poisonings/g-42840083 |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=DW News |date=21 August 2020}}{{cite news |title=After Litvinenko, poisoners strike down ex KGB boss |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/after-litvinenko-poisoners-strike-down-ex-kgb-boss-jscff6zdjqb |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=The Times |date=20 November 2010}}*{{efn|Survived a mercury poisoning with his wife in exile in 2010}}
• Denis Kapustin, a.k.a. "White Rex"{{cite news|title='How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine'|url=|work= Pikulicka-Wilczewska, Agnieszka |date=27 May 2023}}*{{efn|Currently fighting in Ukraine}}
• Evgenia Kara-Murza{{cite news |title=Alexei Navalny: Dissent is dangerous in Russia, but activists refuse to give up |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68395030 |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=25 February 2024}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Vladimir Kara-Murza{{cite news |title=Vladimir Putin's critics: dead, jailed, exiled |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230417-vladimir-putin-s-critics-dead-jailed-exiled |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=France24 |date=17 April 2023}}*{{efn|Survived poisoning by FSB agents in 2015 and 2017, imprisoned since 2022}}
• Nadezhda Karpova{{cite news |title=Nadya Karpova: The Russia striker speaking out against war in Ukraine |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61681972 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=BBC Sport |date=6 June 2022}}*{{efn|Currently lives abroad}}
• Garry Kasparov{{cite news |title=Garry Kasparov: 'Why become a martyr? I can do much more outside Russia' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/apr/30/garry-kasparov-interview-chess-vladimir-putin-russia |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=30 April 2021}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Mikhail Kasyanov{{cite news |title=Russia is electing a new parliament--but hardly anyone thinks Putin's party will lose |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-elections-20160917-snap-story.html |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=17 September 2016}}*{{efn|In exile since 2022}}
• Maxim Katz{{cite news |title=Liberal anti-Putin coalition causes upset in Moscow council elections |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/11/liberal-coalition-deals-blow-to-putin-in-moscow-council-elections |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=11 September 2017}}
• Irina Khakamada{{cite news |title=Russia's other presidential hopefuls |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3537035.stm |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=BBC News |date=6 March 2004}}
• Mikhail Khodorkovsky*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Pavel Khodorkovsky{{cite news |title=Mikhail Khodorkovsky reunion: son Pavel speaks after decade of separation |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10532916/Mikhail-Khodorkovsky-reunion-son-Pavel-speaks-after-decade-of-separation.html |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=21 December 2013}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Andrei Kozyrev{{cite news |title=How Sergey Lavrov lost his levity to become Putin's Mr Nyet |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/how-lavrov-lost-his-levity-to-become-putins-mr-nyet-cmvls9p6h |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The Times |date=6 March 2022}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Nina L. Khrushcheva{{cite news |title=Mariupol defenders ignore Russia surrender deadline:Putin could use nuclear weapons: Khrushchev's great-granddaughter |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-61124291/page/2 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=17 April 2022 |page=2 |quote=Ms Khrushcheva - a Russia scholar at the New School in New York and long-time critic of Mr Putin}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Timur Kuashev{{cite news |title=Russian journalist's body found after disappearance |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/aug/05/journalist-safety-russia |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=5 August 2014}}* †
• Maxim Kuzminov{{cite news |title=Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov who defected to Ukraine 'shot dead' in Spain |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68337794 |access-date=24 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=21 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=What we know about Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who defected to Ukraine and is now believed to be dead |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/02/21/what-we-know-about-russian-pilot-maxim-kuzminov-who-defected-to-ukraine-and-is-now-believed-to-be-dead_6545898_4.html |access-date=24 February 2024 |work=Le Monde |date=21 February 2024}} †
• Yulia Latynina{{cite news |title=Kremlin Critic Latynina Leaves Russia After 'Arson Attack' On Her Car |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-latynina-leaves-russia-journalist-arson/28726196.html |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=RFE/RL |date=9 September 2017}}{{cite news |title=Russian Opposition Journalist Latynina's Home Attacked With Pungent Gas |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2017/07/20/russian-opposition-journalist-latynina-home-attacked-a58452 |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=Moscow Times |date=20 July 2017}}*{{efn|Fled Russia in 2017 after numerous attacks and threats against her}}
• Alexander Litvinenko* †
• Marina Litvinenko{{cite news |title=Alexander Litvinenko's widow joins anti-Putin protest outside Russian embassy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/25/alexander-litvinenkos-widow-joins-anti-putin-protest-outside-russian-embassy |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=25 February 2023}}
• Mikhail Lobanov{{cite news |title=Russian Police Raid Opposition Politicians' Homes, Detain Activist |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/05/18/russian-police-raid-opposition-politicians-homes-detain-activist-a81186 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Moscow Times |date=18 May 2023}}
• Ravil Maganov{{cite news |title=Russian oil boss Ravil Maganov who criticised war in Ukraine dies 'after falling from hospital window' |url=https://news.sky.com/story/russian-oil-boss-ravil-maganov-who-criticised-war-in-ukraine-dies-after-falling-from-hospital-window-12686753 |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=Sky News |date=1 September 2022}}* †
• Isabel Magkoeva{{cite news |title=Not enough rage against the Russian machine |url=https://www.intellinews.com/not-enough-rage-against-the-russian-machine-500016751/?archive=bne |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=bne IntelliNews |date=3 October 2012}}
• Sergei Magnitsky* †
• Mikhail Matveyev{{cite news |title=Russia's anti-war lobby goes online |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220226-russia-s-anti-war-lobby-goes-online |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=France24 |date=26 February 2022}}{{cite news |title=The participant of the rally in Samara demanded the resignation of the chairman of the CEC |url=http://trkterra.ru/news/2011-12-27/122650 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Teppa.ru |date=27 December 2011}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.cvk2012.org/candidates/ |title=CVC Central Election Committee on the elections to the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition |access-date=2012-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923150834/http://www.cvk2012.org/candidates/ |archive-date=2012-09-23 }}{{cite web |last1=Navalny |first1=Alexei |title=Ещё не поздно поддержать Матвеева (и остальных) и помочь им пройти во второй тур. Голосование идёт |url=https://twitter.com/navalny/status/253906600509722624 |website=Twitter |access-date=3 June 2023 |date=4 October 2012}}
• Stanislav Markelov* †
• Boris Mints{{cite news |title=The Russian billionaire daring to speak out about Putin |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62037169 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=11 August 2022}}*{{efn|Currently in exile, arrest warrant issued by the Russian government}}
• Sergey Mitrokhin{{cite news |title=Two prominent activists are planning to run for the same Moscow City Duma seat, prompting tensions among opposition supporters |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/05/13/two-prominent-activists-are-planning-to-run-for-the-same-moscow-city-duma-seat-prompting-tensions-among-opposition-supporters |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Meduza |date=13 May 2019}}
• Sergey Mokhnatkin{{cite book |last1=Freedom House |title=Freedom in the World 2014: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties |date=2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781442247079 |page=573}}* †
• Karinna Moskalenko{{cite news |title=A Brief History of Attempted Russian Assassinations by Poison |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/09/a-brief-history-of-attempted-russian-assassinations-by-poison/ |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=Foreign Policy |date=9 March 2018}}{{cite news |title=Russian lawyer suspects mercury poisoning |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27203472 |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=NBC News |date=16 October 2008}}*{{efn|Survived a mercury poisoning in 2008}}
• Dmitry Muratov{{cite news |title=Dmitry Muratov: Nobel Peace Prize winner and Putin critic 'doused in paint during attack on Moscow train' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dmitry-muratov-putin-russia-ukraine-b2053524.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Independent |date=8 April 2022}}
• Boris Nadezhdin{{cite news |title=Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russia expected in 'weeks rather than months', Western officials say |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/ukrainian-counteroffensive-russia-western-officials-2380951 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=i |date=1 June 2023}}
• Yulia Navalnaya{{cite news |title='I am not afraid': Yulia Navalnaya, 'first lady' of the Russian opposition movement, emerges as a force to be reckoned with |url=https://www.msnbc.com/know-your-value/i-am-not-afraid-yulia-navalnaya-first-lady-russian-opposition-n1257450 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=MSNBC |date=11 February 2021}}
• Alexei Navalny{{cite news |title=Factbox: Who is Alexei Navalny and what does he say of Russia, Putin and death? |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/who-is-alexei-navalny-what-does-he-say-russia-putin-death-2023-04-13/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Reuters |date=13 April 2023}}* †
• Boris Nemtsov{{cite news |title=The man who dared to criticize Putin |url=https://www.dw.com/en/boris-nemtsov-the-man-who-dared-to-criticize-vladimir-putin/a-52561085 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=DW |date=27 February 2020}}* †
• Zhanna Nemtsova{{cite news |title='My father was killed because he understood early the plans of Putin': Zhanna Nemtsova |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2022/09/05/amanpour-zhanna-nemtsova-boris-nemtsov.cnn |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=CNN}}*{{efn|Currently in exile}}
• Valeriya Novodvorskaya{{Cite web|url=https://www.kp.ru/daily/23852.4/63196/|title=Пентагон призвал готовиться к войне с Россией|date=9 February 2007|website=kp.ru}}[http://www.ds.ru/echo2008.htm Валерия Новодворская на радио "Эхо Москвы" 29 августа 2008 г.], radio interview, 29 August 2008, on "Moscow Echo" (Ekho Moskvy)* †
• Oleg Orlov{{cite news |title='Crime of the regime': Russian dissident Orlov reacts to Navalny's death |url=https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240216-crime-of-the-regime-russian-dissident-orlov-react-to-navalny-s-death |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=France24 |date=16 February 2024}}{{cite news |title=Ukraine war: Oleg Orlov faces jail time for criticising Putin's war |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65838473 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=9 June 2023}}*{{efn|Was imprisoned since 2024 until international prisoners' swap}}
• Marina Ovsyannikova{{cite news |title=Former Russian state TV journalist claims Putin 'doesn't have enough Novichok' to kill growing number of critics |url=https://news.sky.com/story/former-russian-state-tv-journalist-claims-putin-doesnt-have-enough-novichok-to-kill-growing-number-of-critics-12877990 |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=Sky News |date=11 May 2023}}*{{efn|In exile since 2023, sentenced to 8.5 years imprisonment in absentia for "spreading knowingly false information"{{cite news |title=Marina Ovsyannikova: Anti-war Russian journalist sentenced in absentia |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67003463 |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=BBC News |date=4 October 2023}}}}
• Miron Fyodorov{{cite news |title=Thousands of Russians protest President Vladimir V. Putin's assault on Ukraine. Some chant: 'No to war!' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/world/europe/russia-protests-putin.html |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The New York Times|date=24 February 2022 |last1=Nechepurenko |first1=Ivan |last2=Bilefsky |first2=Dan }}{{cite news |title=Russian Rapper Oxxxymiron Stages Anti-War Rallying Cry From Istanbul |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/16/russian-rapper-oxxxymiron-stages-anti-war-rallying-cry-from-istanbul-a76960 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Moscow Times |date=19 April 2022}}{{cite news |title=Anti-war Russians in Turkey unite at rap concert for Ukraine |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/anti-war-russians-turkey-unite-rap-concert-ukraine-2022-03-15/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Reuters |date=15 March 2022}}*{{efn|Designated a "foreign agent" by the Russian government}}
• Leonid Parfyonov{{cite news |title=Hunger Striker Oleg Shein Becomes Russia's Opposition Hero |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2012-04-18/hunger-striker-oleg-shein-becomes-russia-s-opposition-hero?leadSource=uverify%20wall |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=Bloomberg News |date=18 February 2012}}
• Gleb Pavlovsky{{cite news |title=Kremlin image-maker turned critic Gleb Pavlovsky dies at 71 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-vladimir-putin-kremlin-moscow-russia-b2290439.html |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=The Independent |date=27 February 2023}}*{{efn|Died in 2023}}
• Alexander Perepilichny{{cite news |title=EXPLORE Tomer Hanuka GLOBAL AN ENEMY OF THE KREMLIN DIES IN LONDON |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/the-poison-flower/508736/ |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=The Atlantic |date=January 2017}}* †{{efn|Died in suspicious circumstances aged 34 in 2012}}
• Dmitry Petrov{{cite web|url=https://crimethinc.com/2023/05/03/in-memory-of-dmitry-petrov-an-incomplete-biography-and-translation-of-his-work|title=In Memory of Dmitry Petrov|date=3 May 2023|work=CrimethInc.|access-date=22 November 2023}}* †
• Nikolay Platoshkin{{cite news |title=Russia: Prisoner of conscience Nikolai Platoshkin's suspended conviction must be quashed |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/05/russia-prisoner-of-conscience-nikolai-platoshkins-suspended-conviction-must-be-quashed/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Amnesty International |date=19 May 2021}}*{{efn|Issued a five-year suspended prison sentence in 2021}}
• Anna Politkovskaya* †
• Ilya Ponomarev{{cite news |title=Targeted killings spark debate within Russian opposition |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/targeted-killings-spark-debate-within-russian-opposition/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Politico |date=24 April 2023}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Lev Ponomaryov{{cite news |title=Russian activist Lev Ponomarev: 'The Kremlin is digging its own grave by letting spooks take over domestic policy' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/lev-ponomarev-russia-activist-kremlin-intelligence-spying-a8729941.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Independent |date=20 January 2019}}
• Yevgeny Prigozhin{{cite news |title='Weak' Putin killed Wagner mercenary chief Prigozhin, Zelensky says |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-war-russia-putin-wagner-zelensky-b2407985.html |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=The Independent |date=8 September 2023}}* †
• Mikhail Prokhorov{{cite news |title=Kremlin critic Mikhail Prokhorov 'does not fear being sent to jail' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8772024/Kremlin-critic-Mikhail-Prokhorov-does-not-fear-being-sent-to-jail.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=18 September 2011}}{{cite news |title=Vladimir Putin's time as leader has passed, says Mikhail Prokhorov |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/9054695/Vladimir-Putins-time-as-leader-has-passed-says-Mikhail-Prokhorov.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=1 February 2012}}*{{efn|Currently lives abroad}}
• Valery Rashkin{{cite news |title='Kremlin framed me' says Russia's anti-Putin Communist star caught with elk blood on his hands |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/10/29/kremlin-framed-says-russias-anti-putin-communist-star-caught/ |access-date=27 January 2024 |work=The Telegraph |date=29 October 2021}}{{cite news |title=Veteran Communist Party Lawmaker Detained for Illegal Hunting |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/29/veteran-communist-party-lawmaker-detained-for-illegal-hunting-a75442 |access-date=27 January 2024 |work=Moscow Times |date=29 October 2021}}
• Yevgeny Roizman*{{efn|Since 2022 has been imprisoned}}
• Ivan Rybkin{{cite news |title=Russian Politician Missing for 3 Days |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-feb-09-fg-disappear9-story.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=9 February 2004}}*{{efn|Survived a kidnapping in 2004}}
• Vladimir Ryzhkov{{cite news |title=Russia election: Vladimir Putin celebrates victory |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17254548 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=6 March 2012}}{{cite news |title=Mikhail Gorbachev had a 'huge impact on world history', says Vladimir Putin |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/putin-gorbachev-death-deepest-condolences-b2156152.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Independent |date=31 August 2022}}
• Yekaterina Samutsevich
• Ekaterina Schulmann{{cite news |title=Russians who live abroad say Moscow is hardening the views of those back home |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russians-live-abroad-say-moscow-hardening-views-back-home-rcna20605 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=NBC |date=27 March 2022}}*{{efn|Currently in exile, designated a "foreign agent" by the Russian government}}
• Viktor Shenderovich{{cite news |title=Russian Writer, Staunch Kremlin Critic Barred From Entering Georgia |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-writer-critic-barred-georgia/32440121.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=RFE/RL |date=2 June 2023}}*{{efn|In exile since 2022}}
• Yuri Shevchuk{{cite news |title=Russia prosecutes veteran rock star for criticising Ukraine conflict |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220520-russia-prosecutes-veteran-rock-star-for-criticising-ukraine-conflict |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=France24 |date=20 May 2022}}
• Lilia Shevtsova{{cite news |title=Socialism may be waning, but not for young Russians |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/22/socialism-may-be-waning-but-not-for-young-russians/ |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=The Washington Times |date=22 November 2012}}
• Lev Shlosberg{{cite news |title=Opposition Politician Accused of 'Discrediting' Russian Military |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/15/shlosberg-a77362 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Moscow Times |date=15 April 2022}}
• Ruslan Shaveddinov*{{efn|Designated a "foreign agent" by the Russian government, warrant for his arrest also issued}}
• Yuri Shchekochikhin* †
• Yury Shutov{{cite news |title=Putin Critic Serving Life Sentence Dies In Jail |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-critic-shutov-dead/26745579.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=RFE/RL |date=15 December 2014}}* †
• Natalya Sindeyeva{{cite news |title=Meet Natalya Sindeyeva – has she got news for Vladimir Putin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/20/natalya-sindeyeva-russian-tv-dozhd-rain-fuck-this-job-putin |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=20 February 2022}}
• Aleksandra Skochilenko{{cite news |title=Russian artist jailed for seven years over Ukraine war price tag protest |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/16/russian-artist-aleksandra-skochilenko-protested-against-ukraine-war-jailed |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=16 November 2023}}*{{efn|Sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 2023 for replacing five price tags in a local supermarket with notes criticising the Russian invasion of Ukraine}}
• Emilia Slabunova{{cite news |title=Russian regional deputies urge Putin to issue decree ending mobilisation |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-regional-deputies-urge-putin-issue-decree-ending-mobilisation-2022-12-06/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Reuters |date=6 December 2022}}
• Irina Slavina*{{cite news |title=Russia 'drove democracy activist to fireball suicide' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/opposition-journalist-killed-herself-to-protest-putins-regime-say-supporters-nrxtdwqx8 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Times |date=11 October 2020}} †
• Olga Smirnova{{cite news |title=Russian, Ukrainian ballet stars to dance together in Naples |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-bolshoi-ballet-red-cross-italy-kyiv-b2050767.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Independent |date=4 April 2022}}*{{efn|In exile since 2022}}
• Fyodor Smolov{{cite news |title=Russian soccer player Fedor Smolov publicly opposes Putin's decision to invade Ukraine: 'No to war' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/25/fedor-smolov-russian-soccer-player-condemns-ukraine-invasion/ |access-date=25 February 2022 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=29 September 2023}}
• Ksenia Sobchak{{cite news |title=Russian opposition figures: Ksenia Sobchak |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18408300 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=12 June 2012}}{{cite news |title=Ksenia Sobchak: Police raid home of 'Russian Paris Hilton' and Putin critic |url=https://news.sky.com/story/ksenia-sobchak-police-raid-home-of-russian-paris-hilton-and-putin-critic-12730816 |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Sky News |date=26 October 2022}}
• Lyubov Sobol*{{efn|Currently in exile, warrant for her arrest issued by Russian government}}
• Mikhail Svetov{{cite news |title=Criminal Case Opened Against Leader Of Libertarian Party Of Russia |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-libertarian-party-leader-criminal-case/32532174.html |access-date=10 March 2024 |work=Radio free Europe|date=3 August 2023}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Vladimir Sviridov* †
• Nadya Tolokonnikova
• Sergei Tretyakov{{cite news |title=Russia: The KGB's Post-Soviet 'Commercialization' |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1073587.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=RFE/RL |date=20 December 2006}}* †
• Anastasia Udaltsova{{cite news |title=Russian opposition figures: Sergei and Anastasia Udaltsov |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18408295 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=12 June 2012}}
• Sergei Udaltsov
• Yevgeny Urlashov{{cite news |title=Russian Mayor, an Opposition Figure, Is Arrested |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/world/europe/russian-mayor-an-opposition-figure-is-arrested.html |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=3 July 2013}}*{{efn|Imprisoned since 2017}}
• Denis Voronenkov* †
• Alexei Venediktov{{cite news |title=Top radio chief sees Russia 'thrown back 40 years' |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220426-top-radio-chief-sees-russia-thrown-back-40-years |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=France24 |date=26 April 2022}}*{{efn|Labelled a "foreign agent" by the Russian Government in 2022}}
• Pyotr Verzilov{{cite news |title='Highly probable' Pussy Riot activist was poisoned, say German doctors |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/18/highly-probable-pussy-riot-member-poisoned-say-german-doctors-pyotr-verzilov |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=18 September 2018}}*{{efn|Survived a poisoning in 2017}}
• Kira Yarmysh*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Ilya Yashin*{{efn|Since 2022 has been imprisoned}}
• Grigory Yavlinsky{{cite news |title=Russians tire of Putin, says opposition leader |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-election-yavlinsky-idUSTRE7AT0U320111130 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Reuters |date=30 November 2011}}
• Magomed Yevloyev{{cite news |title=Owner of Russian opposition website killed |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-ingushetia-idUSLV16051920080831 |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=Reuters |date=31 August 2008}}* †
• Sergei Yushenkov* †
• Akhmed Zakayev{{cite news |title=From Russia with $3 billion. Another Putin opponent may have fled to London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/30/russia.lukeharding |access-date=2 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=30 August 2007}}*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Ivan Zhdanov*{{efn|name=exile|}}
• Gennady Zyuganovhttps://kprf.ru/crisis/agitator/88691.htmlhttps://kprf.ru/opponents/95694.html

{{div col end}}

File:White-blue-white flag in Tbilisi.jpg

In 2012, the term white ribbon opposition was applied to the protesters for fair elections as they wore white ribbons as their symbol.

The white-blue-white flag is a symbol of opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has been used by Russian anti-war protesters. It has also been used as a symbol of opposition to the current government of Russia. The flag was not used by many Russian anti-war protesters (especially those inside Russia) as they usually fly the current white-blue-red flag.{{Cite tweet|user=politica_media|number=1891121982952927663|title=Очередь к могиле Алексея Навального.}}

During the Wagner Group rebellion, forces loyal to the Wagner group painted a red Z on the side of their vehicles, in reference to the white Z used by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web |title=Red Z = Wagner |url=https://twitter.com/CEOTechnician/status/1672431481120075776 |website=Twitter |access-date=24 June 2023}}

• 12 Who Don't Agree (2009), non-fiction book by Valery Panyushkin
• Winter is Coming (2015), non-fiction book by former Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov

• Les Enfants terribles de Vladimir Vladimirovitch Poutine (2006)
• This is Our City (2007), by Alexander Shcherbanosov
• The Revolution That Wasn't (2008), by Alyona Polunina
• {{ill|Term (film)|ru|Срок (фильм)|lt=Term}} (2018), by {{ill|Alexander Rastorguyev|ru|Расторгуев, Александр Евгеньевич|uk|Расторгуєв Олександр Євгенович}}
• Putin's Palace: History of the World's Largest Bribe (2021), by Alexei Navalny
• Navalny (2022), by Daniel Roher

• Assassination of Boris Nemtsov
• Belarusian opposition
• Bill Browder
• Democracy movements of China
• Dissenters' March
• Kazakh opposition
• Kirill Serebrennikov
• National Endowment for Democracy
• Non-system opposition
• Political groups under Vladimir Putin's presidency
• Putin khuylo!
• Reaction of Russian intelligentsia to the 2014 annexation of Crimea
• Russia under Vladimir Putin
• Russia will be free
• Russian partisan movement (2022–present)
• Soviet dissidents
• Transnational repression by Russia

{{Notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=exile|Currently in exile}}

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}
• [http://ixtc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PP-LIST-2015-03-15.pdf List of political prisoners in Russia (Russian)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531015903/http://ixtc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PP-LIST-2015-03-15.pdf |date=31 May 2021 }} in 2015, [http://www.ixtc.org/analytics/ compiled] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213142203/http://www.ixtc.org/analytics/ |date=13 December 2017 }} by "New Chronicle of Current Events".

{{Russian opposition}}

{{Vladimir Putin}}

{{authority control}}

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Category:Politics of Russia

Category:Anti-imperialism

Category:Anti-fascism

Category:Political opposition