Don’t send weapons to Ukraine, top Russian Kremlin critic says - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/dont-send-weapons-to-ukraine-top-russian-kremlin-critic-says/2015/03/17/9c3ca224-cbea-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html
As Washington debates whether to send lethal weaponry to the Ukrainian army, one of the Kremlin’s biggest critics, Alexei Navalny, says it would be a mistake.
His opposition to the U.S. proposal, expressed in a wide-ranging interview in his spartan Moscow office, highlights a dilemma for the small fraction of Russians who still sympathize with the United States after a wave of anti-Americanism. They face new dangers after the Feb. 27 assassination of Boris Nemtsov, who along with Navalny was one of the most charismatic leaders of the movement.
Arming Ukraine would be an attempt to dissuade Russia from sending soldiers into Ukraine’s east, where a battle with pro-Russian rebels is smoldering. But many Kremlin critics risk even more pressure over Western ties if their compatriots start getting killed by U.S. weaponry. They are already labeled as fifth-columnists. Few Russians can bring themselves to support the suggestion even as they criticize U.S. policy for not doing enough to halt Putin.