Mikhail Turchenko

Political Scientist | Elections, Authoritarianism, Russian Politics

[Yulia Navalnaya @yulia_navalnaya]

Scientists from five European countries have established: my husband, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned with epibatidine — a neurotoxin, one of the deadliest poisons on earth. In nature, this poison can be found on the skin of the Ecuadorian dart frog. It causes paralysis, respiratory arrest, and a painful death.
I was certain from the first day that my husband had been poisoned, but now there is proof: Putin killed Alexei with chemical weapon.
I am grateful to the European states for the meticulous work they carried out over two years and for uncovering the truth.
Vladimir Putin is a murderer. He must be held accountable for all his crimes.

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

Finally, the Smart Vote campaign demonstrated the political genius of Alexei Navalny, who invented the strategy. As we all know, he has paid the highest possible price for his principles and beliefs. 7/7

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

My first academic article in 3 years has just been published in Democratization. I started working on it back in September 2021. Honestly, had I known in advance how hard it would be to complete this project, I probably wouldn’t have started it at all. 1/7 https://t.co/I9d3VI44k2

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

Third, Smart Vote gave people living under a repressive authoritarian regime a tool for expressing their dissent in a safe way and coordinating when all other avenues for collective action had already been destroyed. That, I believe, was the campaign’s main contribution. 6/7

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

I've been donating to Mediazona for 5 years. It's the most trustworthy and principled Russian media. Of course, it's in exile. Now is the most difficult time for Mediazona. Consider donating if you want the crimes of Putin's regime to remain widely exposed
https://t.co/E7RYdAM2ze

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

Graffiti on the Northwestern University campus

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

Three years ago, on Feb 24, 2022, Russian dictator Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He and his henchmen bear sole responsibility for the ongoing bloody war and the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

@kennet_aaron Hi, I suggest reading that article and following the hyperlinks within it, as it might be beneficial for you. Also, thank you for your lack of empathy. https://t.co/bxdCqAMJvj

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

The truth is that no one knows the real level of support for Navalny. In reality, this support goes FAR BEYOND the numbers you might see in opinion polls. In a free media environment, it could be more than impressive 6/7

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

Biased numbers from polls and ignoring the power of Russian propaganda led people unfamiliar with the Russian context to believe that Navalny was just an ordinary opposition politician with limited support 5/7

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

Russia is an oppressive dictatorship. In such states, as UCLA and Yale scholars have explained, people falsify their preferences on political issues. Fear of bad consequences for “wrong” answers (harassment, imprisonment, or worse) is omnipresent 3/7 https://t.co/cxMaQtJYXj

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

For more than a decade, Alexei Navalny has been humiliated by Russian state-controlled propaganda. Russian authorities have opened several criminal cases against him, not only in a vain attempt to sideline him but also to sell anti-Navalny propaganda to the people 4/7

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

On February 8, 2023, Russia’s Levada Center polling agency published that Navalny was supported by 9% of Russians. That is about 13 million people. A pretty solid number, right? However, this lever of support is an assessment from below 2/7 https://t.co/G4RSvotd7X

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

This Wednesday, I attended an academic discussion where an American professor claimed that Alexei Navalny is not an important figure because of his low support level. I have not heard such nonsense in a long time. Alexei Navalny has been a key figure in the Russian landscape 1/7

[Mikhail Turchenko @msturchenko]

Putin's Russia is not a "country". It is an organized criminal group killing, terrorizing, and torturing people both inside and outside its borders. Negotiating anything with the Russian state is doomed to failure and only encourages Putin's regime to commit new crimes.