KYIV — For Ukrainian officials, the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny offered the latest evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin runs a murderous regime and that Ukraine cannot and must not negotiate with him.
But there has also been no outpouring of condolences from Kyiv officials over Navalny’s death — a reflection of the ambivalence many Ukrainians felt toward the late Russian opposition leader, who was half-Ukrainian but also made controversial statements that spurred suspicions that he harbored Russian nationalist views similar to Putin’s.
“Putin is the ultimate evil who is afraid of any competition,” Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration posted on X. “The lives of Russians are nothing to him. Everyone who calls for negotiations must realize that he cannot be trusted. The only language he understands is force.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior presidential adviser, issued a similar statement. “Stop thinking you can make some sort of agreement with Death itself or with a bloody dictator,” Podolyak wrote.
Putin and his supporters are not interested in “treaties, guarantees or stability,” he added. “But they are absolutely interested in mass deaths and murders. Everywhere. Within their own country and especially in other countries.”
Vladimir Putin, riding high before Navalny’s death, seems unstoppable
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reminded his followers on X of the “long list” of Putin’s critics and opponents who, like Navalny, have died under violent or unclear circumstances: journalist Anna Politkovskaya; former KGB agent and dissident Alexander Litvinenko; Sergey Magnitsky who was killed in prison after uncovering a massive fraud by Russian tax officials; and Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
“There was outrage after each murder, but Putin eventually got away with it, and world leaders shook his hand again,” Kuleba wrote. “This encouraged him to continue killing people.”
Kuleba said that Navalny’s death was a rebuke to those who insist that Putin could be trusted and Ukraine should sit down and reach a negotiated end to the conflict with Russia.
“Today, some voices continue to call for Putin to be heard and negotiated with. It is time to end the naiveté,” he wrote. “Before any meaningful engagement with Moscow can begin, Russia must be defeated in Ukraine and Putin must finally learn a lesson.”
After Russia invaded and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, Navalny criticized how the situation was handled but tried to avoid clashing with the overwhelming majority of Russians who, according to polls, supported the annexation. Navalny urged people to accept that Crimea was Russian and would remain so, famously asking if Crimea was a bologna sandwich to be passed back and forth.
Navalny later spoke out forcefully against Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, and for Russia to reparations to Ukraine using proceeds from its oil and gas revenue.
Vladimir Putin, riding high before Navalny’s death, seems unstoppable
Still, some Ukrainians reacted to Navalny’s death by posting pictures on social media of a sandwich being thrown into the garbage.
Yevhen Klopotenko, a Ukrainian celebrity chef who has provided assistance to the war effort, posted a tweet of a photo of two pieces of bread, one moldy, and an arrow pointing to a trash can.
Zelensky used Navalny’s death to criticize Putin’s regime. “Obviously, he was killed by Putin, like thousands of other tortured — tortured because of this one man,” Zelensky said at a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, his first remarks after learning of Navalny’s death.
“Putin doesn’t care who dies, as long as he keeps his position,” Zelensky said. “That is why he should not keep anything. He must be defeated, lose everything and answer for what he has done.”