Moscow, Navalnists court the no-vaxers

The leaders of Aleksej Naval'nyj's movement are trying to revive political opposition activities in Russia by attempting to exploit the discontent of increasingly popular "anti-vax" groups, proof of the government's failed anti-Covid campaign. The "competition" with the KPRF communists ahead of the 2022 regional elections.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The leaders of the Navalnist movement are trying to revive political opposition activities, despite incessant pressure and persecution  (on December 28 Moscow shut down the Memorial Association). The leader Leonid Volkov, who has been in exile in Vilnius for over a year, has made it clear that he wants to forge links with the anti-vax groups, the Russian no-vaxers who are becoming increasingly popular at home. They are joined by the communists of the KPRF, with whom the navalnists were partially allied in the last September elections, but with whom they are also competing for the leadership of anti-regime initiatives.

In an interview with the Russian ex-pat magazine, Vot Tak ("Just Like That"), Volkov acknowledged that "in Russia many things we are used to, counting on some spaces of freedom in which to move, have now been suppressed or eliminated in various ways", but the anti-regimeists still have good prospects for action, because 'the strongest survive, the most agile, who adapt to changing conditions', and the navalnists want to continue to be protagonists, because Russian society continues to need alternative points of reference, even if they are less structured.

This is why the fight against the coronavirus offers plenty of scope for action, given that the representatives of power have completely failed the vaccination campaign, provoking even more angry reactions in the population. The great strength of the Russian anti-vaxxers lies not only in their criticism of health measures, but precisely in the explicit demonstration of distrust towards the Kremlin, and this reason for protest should not be wasted, according to Volkov.

Avoiding the excesses of ideological and pseudo-religious fanaticism, which boasts of conspiracies and "chippings", 90% of the disgruntled are disillusioned Putin voters: "are workers from the state factories who were forced to attend regime meetings and votes, and now they don't want to force their way onto the buses for the vaccination centre".

Volkov assures us that these social processes can also be influenced from abroad, even if we are ready to recreate a movement structure that is even more effective than the one destroyed by the repressions. It is not a question of 'governments in exile', but of supporting spontaneous protests by providing valid and not specious arguments.

However, the navalnists seem to want to ignore the initiatives of the communists, who have tried to stage no-vax demonstrations even in the State Duma's halls, displaying placards against the "Qr-fascism" of the compulsory Green Pass.

Kprf members clearly aim to increase their votes thanks to anti-vaxery already in the regional elections to be held in 2022, and Naval'nyj's followers will have to come to terms more explicitly this time, given the draconian measures used by the regime against any form of "useful vote". The communists are questioning whether it is really worthwhile to be joined by the Navalnists, or to seek a direct line with the most restless sectors of the population, on health and social issues in general. 

• Russia
• Mosca
• Putin
• Naval'nyj
• Covid-19
• No Vax