One only wonders whether there would be any Russia at all?

In Ukraine, the local nationalist crowd seem to hate Alexey Navalny and think that he would be just like Putin. A video that has surfaced from recent protests in support of Navalny, which also took place in front of the Russian embassy in Kiev, which shows a confrontation between a Russian speaking individual, who says that “The sooner Putin is removed, the sooner Crimea will return back to Ukraine.” To which the nationalists say that Navalny is no different from Putin to put in decent terms…

The fist gentleman represents the globalist point of view on Russia. To them any Russia that acts independently of the West is a problem. And they prefer a manageable Russia, preferably carved up into small manageable pieces. Carve it up like Africa and create new nations in Cossackia, Siberia, Moskovia etc. with new mickey mouse identities a la Ukraine and Belarus, that will be too weak and prone to outside influence, where the West could control the regimes, and if need be support friendly regimes militarily to quell any resistance. NATO countries like my own have a lot of experience in chasing a variety of savages in exotic lands. The Czech troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan and Mali for instance. And I have met Czech soldiers in Jordan rather recently.

Maybe I am exaggerating but I think it was Brzezinski, who said something along these lines. And I hear from other sources invested in influencing countries in the Former Soviet Union that this belief may not be all that uncommon. The wish for an absolutely compliant regime in the Kremlin is definitely there. The idea that the Russians act wrongly and they need to be punished for their actions is certainly almost ubiquitous in Western political circles.

One of glaring transgressions of Putin against the West was the annexation of Crimea in Spring 2014. In 2014, following an unconstitutional overthrow of power in Kiev, the Kremlin found the guts to take a Russian majority peninsula that hitherto belonged to Ukraine under its protection thus saving the people from political repression and forcible Ukrainisation. And also saving Russia from the humiliation of having to vacate their naval base. And the question is, would president Navalny do the same?

If we look back to an interview Navalny did with Ksenia Sobchak, he made his point on Crimea clear. He said that the referendum in 2014 was faked and that it would need to be repeated. To which Ksenia answered that what is the point of even suggesting a referendum with international observers when the West will not accept in anyway? Navalny also called for sanctions against Russian officials on the pages of the New York Times. (hat tip Anatoly Karlin) Navalny is basically a puppet, who is completely afraid of saying anything that could anger his Western handlers, and even if we assume that he does not have Western handlers, which is hard to do with every Western politician coming out in his support, he is surrounded by people, who are definitely in the pockets of Western interests. But we can of course give him the benefit of a doubt and assume that he will become a Russian patriot upon becoming a president. How then will he be different from Putin? Does Russia need Navalny?