In its 45-minute Friday night news bulletin, Russian TV devoted 28 seconds to the news about Alexei Navalny. His death was announced almost in passing. Just 28 seconds for the man who'd become Russia's most prominent opposition figure and the country's most famous prisoner. Alexei Navalny had, in fact, been many things: lawyer, blogger, anti-corruption campaigner, political activist - and always a thorn in the side of the Kremlin. Not all Russians had supported him. But, for a decade he was the only opposition figure in Russia capable of bringing large numbers of protesters on to the streets - across the country - to rail against the government, slam corruption and demand free and fair elections. Which is why the Kremlin saw him as a threat.
