Navalny joins a long list of dead Putin foes as the Kremlin stamps out Russia's opposition

The death of Alexei Navalny deals a severe blow to Russia’s opposition, which President Vladimir Putin has ruthlessly silenced.

The circumstances surrounding the death of the outspoken critic while in jail remain unclear, but blame will undoubtedly center on the Kremlin, which has a long history of eliminating its adversaries.

The death of the 47-year-old leaves a gaping hole in the opposition movement, with its remaining leaders either in prison or in exile as a result of a crackdown not seen since the Soviet era.

Over the years, Navalny was poisoned, then jailed and has now died. He is just the latest high-profile example of the Kremlin’s approach.

“The question was really how long he would survive, rather than whether he would be allowed to live,” said Keir Giles, senior consulting fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.

Russia has urged the United States and its allies not to rush to conclusions, criticizing the “rabid” response of those like President Joe Biden who pointed the finger at Putin. But anyone familiar with how the Kremlin operates will have “been left with little doubt” about who was to blame, Giles told NBC News.

War in Ukraine and a crackdown at home

Russia has been recast over the past two years, as the Kremlin waged war in neighboring Ukraine.

The war was initially met with some protests inside Russia, but draconian legislation enacted within days of the invasion enabled the arrest of dissenters, many of whom ended up behind bars. Russian independent media fled the country, fearing persecution.

The war continues to fuel some dissent at home, with wives of mobilized soldiers fighting to return their men from the front lines, and people lining up to