‘He was our hero’: six Russians on the death of Alexei Navalny

Alexei Navalny at a rally in Moscow in February 2020. Illustration: Guardian Design

Western leaders have held Vladimir Putin responsible for Alexei Navalny’s death in prison, where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a “special regime”.

Navalny’s death – a pivotal moment for the country’s fractured pro-democracy movement – sent waves of anger and despair through the ranks of his supporters in Russia and abroad.