Navalny commemorated on Dam Square: ‘He symbolized the hope for a different, free Russia’

She had to come to De Dam. Oxana Pleshko (50), daughter of a Ukrainian father and a Russian mother, has not been feeling well since she heard the news on Friday about the death of her hero Alexei Navalny. She has lived happily in the Netherlands for over fifteen years, but she has always dreamed of a democratic Russia. Thanks to opposition figures like Navalny. The fact that he nevertheless returned to Moscow in 2021 after his poisoning gave her hope. Until yesterday. In a low voice: “Then it turned out to be impossible to take on Putin.” In her hand she holds a bunch of light red carnations.

She will meet a few hundred like-minded people on the bottom steps of the National Monument in the center of Amsterdam on Saturday around noon. The reason she came to the spontaneous commemoration. With her family in Murmansk, in Russia’s far northwest, she cannot talk about what happened. “They see it very differently. For them, opposition is a swear word.” She wipes away her tears. “And I understand that too. They don’t know any better.”

Plaque

In a circle around a large photo of Navalny and laid flowers, candles and cards (“He did not die, he was murdered.”), some attendees have draped a Russian flag around their shoulders. Standing slightly behind the crowd is Vladimir, 36, with a sign on his chest that reads in his native language: “Thank you for hope.”

He says he has been following Navalny since the politician made an unsuccessful attempt to become mayor of Moscow in 2013. “For me he symbolized the hope for a different, free Russia without corruption. I am grateful to him for that.”

He is not afraid that hope has disappeared with his death. “In the last shot of the documentary about his struggle, Navalny says what we should do if he is killed: ‘Don’t give up and keep fighting’.” That takes time, perseverance and even human lives, he sighs. “You know that too.” The young Russian points to the text on the plaque at the bottom of the monument, which others previously translated for him: “Freedom cannot be taken for granted.” He nods.

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The group of sympathizers on the square has now grown to a few hundred people. The sea of ​​flowers is also slowly swelling. Andrej Ozeror (31) bought a bunch of dried yellow flowers for the man he believed in so much. “For me, Navalny was the symbol of the future. That democratic innovations are possible.” The programmer raises his hands to the sky, as if to say: “What now?” He doesn’t remember. And he is not alone in this. A young Russian woman with a large bouquet of red tulips cannot even say a word. “Sorry.” There is singing in the background, followed by the chanting of his name: “Na-val-ny. Na-val-ny!”

The friends Veronica and Katja (“If we give out our surnames, it could cause problems for us”) watch it in silence from a distance. Both are 41 and have been working in the Netherlands for years. The bond with Russia is no less important. “Normally I don’t participate in manifestations,” says Katja. But this time she felt she had no choice. “This is lawlessness of the worst kind and so I have to be here.” Because if even Navalny could bring himself to keep smiling, who is she to give up hope? Her friend nods softly. “As Dostoyevsky said, hope dies last.” It doesn’t sound very convinced.

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