People clash with police during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. Russian police on Saturday arrested hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in temperatures as low as minus-50 C (minus-58 F) to demand the release of Alexei Navalny, the country’s top opposition figure. A Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent foe, was arrested on Jan. 17 when he returned to Moscow from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a severe nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

If you haven’t been following the news in Russia, it is time to start. Sometime we are so focused on our own country’s issues, that we fail to see recognize the significance of world news. Currently (late January, 2021), the streets of Russia are full of unrest and more blazenly against Putin’s regime than the have in the last few decades (explore this map with the various protests across Russia). I’m not making predictions, but this has the feeling of a geopolitical event that could topple a regime. If that does happen, we need to keep our eyes on the ground. First, what is the backstory of Alexey Navalny, that the protesters are asking to be released? This article from the New Yorker is a great primer to the backstory of Alexey Navalny’s push to shine the light on corruption within Putin’s regime. Second, how is the Russian government handling the protests and the what might it mean for the regime? There are main great articles, but read a few to stay current on this topic.

GeoEd Tags: Russia, conflict, political.