'The person who you mentioned': How Navalny haunted Putin

PARIS, France — Vladimir Putin never referred to Alexei Navalny by name yet the Russian leader's most significant domestic political opponent succeeded in haunting the Kremlin chief, though it remains to be seen how his influence will endure after his death.

Putin in his comments over the last decade always engaged in a variety of verbal gymnastics to avoid ever pronouncing the word "Navalny".

"The citizen who you mentioned", "that person", and "this gentleman" were three terms used by Putin to describe Navalny in response to a single question about him after talks with US President Joe Biden in Geneva in June 2021.

When that same month in an interview with American television Putin was asked if he could pledge that Navalny would be able to leave prison safe and well, the Russian leader replied according to the Kremlin transcript: "I expect that the person who you mentioned will be subject to the same methods... as other people are in prison."

When the interviewer interjected with Navalny's name, Putin replied: "You can call him what you like, he is one of the people who are in prison."

But Putin's reticence to pronounce the name of a man -- who over one-and-a-half decades went from being an anti-corruption blogger known mainly to Moscow liberals and Western media to his main opponent -- masked his own personal preoccupation with Navalny.

Navalny died in prison in the Russian Arctic on February 16 with supporters pinning blame on the Kremlin. He was to be laid to rest in Moscow on Friday.

Navalny was a figure who during 2011-2012 protests declared "we can take the Kremlin", and put up a robust showing against the pro-Kremlin incumbent in 2013 Moscow elections -- the one time he was allowed to stand for office.

He was also building a support network outside the capital and Saint Petersburg, notably in Siberia.

Above all, Navalny peppered the internet with slickly produced videos, all beginning with his laconic catchphrase "Privet, eto Navalny!" ("Hi, this is Navalny!"), alleging high-level corruption among the Kremlin elite and Putin himself.

The most famous investigation was a 2021 film lasting almost two hours that claimed the Russian leader had illicitly and