A year after Navalny’s death, the Russian opposition struggles without its charismatic leader

The stunning news came in a terse statement from the Russian penitentiary service a year ago: Opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died in the Arctic Circle penal colony where he was serving a prison sentence.

In the year since the death of Navalny at age 47, the Russian opposition has struggled to find its footing against President Vladimir Putin.

Outlawed at home and operating from exile abroad without Putin’s fiercest foe, it has failed to form a united front and a clear plan of action against the Kremlin. Instead, rival groups have traded accusations that some see as efforts to discredit each other and vie for influence.

Navalny's death was "a point of no return" and left an impossible void to fill, said Oleg Ivanov, a supporter who left Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and lives in Los Angeles.

"Alexei was the only hope that Russia has, at least potentially and hypothetically, some kind of a meaningful leader who could unite all the people willing to change something in our country, in our lives," Ivanov said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Ivanov, who joined the mass protests that erupted across Russia in 2017, said that since Navalny’s death, “I'm afraid that there is no one left who could somehow resist" the Kremlin.

Navalny is the second opposition leader whose sudden death shocked Russia and the world. In February 2015, prominent politician Boris Nemtsov was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin just days before he, Navalny and others were expected to lead a mass anti-Putin rally.

Navalny's vision of a "beautiful Russia of the future," where leaders are freely and fairly elected, corruption is tamed, and democratic institutions work, earned him widespread support in the vast country.

His charisma and sardonic humor drew young, energetic activists to his side - a team that resembled "a fancy startup" rather than a clandestine revolutionary operation, according to his memoir, "Patriot," released eight months after his death.

Together they created colorful, professionally produced videos exposing corruption by government officials. Millions viewed them on YouTube and tens of thousands attended rallies even as authorities cracked down harder on dissent.

As Navalny aspired to public office, authorities responded by bringing multiple criminal charges against him, his allies and even relatives. Regularly jailed, he was physically attacked by Kremlin supporters, one of whom threw green dye in his face that nearly cost him the vision in one eye.

He finished second in the race for Moscow mayor in 2013 amid allegations of vote rigging. In 2017, he announced plans to run for president and set up a sprawling network of regional offices across the country, recruiting local activists. When he was eventually barred from running, he kept those offices open, extending his reach across Russia's 11 time zones.

In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent attack he blamed on the Kremlin, which always denied involvement. His family and allies fought to have him flown to Germany for treatment and recovery. Five months later, he returned to Russia, where he was immediately arrested and imprisoned for the last three years of his life.

But even behind bars, in incredibly harsh conditions of constant pressure and surveillance, Navalny found a way to relay messages. His popular social media accounts were regularly updated with sarcastic vignettes about prison life and political statements.

Authorities blamed Navalny’s death, announced Feb. 16, 2024, on natural causes - a sudden spike in blood pressure and chronic diseases. His family and allies reject that and insist he was killed on orders from the Kremlin - accusations its officials deny.

Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral in Moscow on March 1 in a rare show of defiance in a country where any street rally or even single pickets often result in immediate arrest. For days afterward, people brought flowers to his grave.

Longtime ally Vladimir Ashurkov described Navalny as "a political figure that basically defined the generation of Russians over the last 15 years."

"While he was alive, even from prison, he was raising his voice against the war and against Putin's tyranny," Ashurkov told AP in London.

His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has vowed to continue his fight. She has recorded regular video addresses to her supporters and has met Western leaders and top officials, advocating for Russians who oppose Putin and his war in Ukraine.

Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation continues to expose corruption in Russia in colorful videos and organizes occasional protests abroad, condemning Putin and the war in Ukraine.

A landmark East-West prisoner swap in August freed other key dissidents like Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, promising to reinvigorate the opposition movement unmoored by Navalny's death. So far, however, they haven't gone beyond meetings with Western officials and supporters in exile, or a few rallies -- actions unlikely to dent Putin's war effort or his ever-growing crackdowns that sweep up remaining dissidents and ordinary Russians alike.

Ashurkov describes the situation in Russia and Ukraine now as "dark times" and "difficult times."

But he notes that Navalny went through many difficulties and pressure in his life.

“His advice and his motivation to all of us has been, 'Don't sit still. Try to do something to change the situation, and be prepared for change'," he said.