Section 1 Findings
Congress finds the following:
The administration of President Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation has engaged in transnational repression, assassinations of political opponents, poisoning and other attempted murders of political opponents, journalists, and human rights defenders, systemic human rights abuses, and unprovoked military attacks against and deployments to neighboring countries.
The administration of President Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation has carried out arrests and detentions of individuals who peacefully seek democratic freedoms or oppose his repression, corruption, and invasion of Ukraine.
Alexei Navalny was a Russian political dissident and activist dedicated to promoting democratic freedoms and fighting corruption in Russia.
On February 16, 2024, the Russian prison where Alexei Navalny was being held after his conviction on fabricated charges in February 2021 announced that he had died a day after he was seen in good health.
Alexei Navalny had a history of exposing the widespread corruption that sustained the Putin regime by enriching its enablers. He was recognized and awarded on numerous occasions for his work fighting corruption and promoting democratic ideals. Those recognitions and awards include the 2015 Prize of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, a nomination for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, the 2021 Boris Nemtsov Prize for Courage, the 2021 Moral Courage Award by the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, the 2021 Knight of Freedom Award by the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, and the 2021 Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament.
Alexei Navalny and fellow dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza endured several poisonings and other attempts on their lives carried out by Putin’s government.
Renaming the street near the official residence of the Russian Ambassador to the United States serves as a continuing expression of solidarity between the people of the United States and the people of the Russian Federation, who are engaged in a sustained, peaceful, and patriotic struggle for fundamental freedoms.