Navalny is another Julian Assange. He has the bravery and the guts to stand up to Putin. That he came back from Germany to resume his anti corruption fight when he could very well have remained in exile and saved his life, speaks of his grit (“Navalny’s mettle poses a threat to Putin’s authority,” Jan. 29, Gulf Today).

However, we wonder whether one man can overthrow Putin’s empire of corrupt cronies. There were people before Navalny. But Putin remains strong. He is powerful and with this kind of power, the protests of people seems like a scratch on an elephant’s back.

It is yet to be seen how he will try to subdue Navalny. Navalny’s voice is powerful, true, but it took a war to overthrow Hitler.

Caroll Smith — By email