The Kremlin's Kryptonite?

Anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny has led massive protests in Moscow and beyond. But can he really challenge Vladimir Putin in 2018?

- Marc Bennetts

IT WAS an overcast afternoon in northern Moscow on April 10, and a crowd was gathering outside the jail where Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was finishing yet another stint behind bars. The crowd, mostly opposition activists and journalists, was expecting to hear a fiery speech from Navalny, a 40-year-old anti-corruption activist.

But there would be no speeches that afternoon. In an apparent attempt to prevent Navalny from addressing the media, Russian authorities had secretly transferred him to a different jail some 10 miles away and released him there. He was forced to make his way home alone on the metro.

For Navalny’s supporters, the underhanded move was an indication of his growing nationwide profile, and an indirect admission that Navalny is the only figure with any chance of unseating President Vladimir Putin in the 2018 elections. That is, if he can get on the ballot.

Putin and his inner circle have good reason to be spooked. On March 26, Navalny orchestrated the biggest anti-government protests in years; tens of thousands of people defied police bans to rally in almost 100 cities and towns across Russia. Riot police cracked down hard, arresting over 1,000 protesters in Moscow alone, including Navalny, who was sentenced to 15 days behind bars for disobeying police orders.