Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has overtaken President Vladimir Putin as Russia's most mentioned politician on social media according to latest analysis, highlighting the growing threat he poses to the country's authorities.
But in the month since his return to Russia from Berlin, where he was treated for Novichok poisoning, Navalny's profile has exploded.
Analysis by the online Russian-language publication Open Media has found that between January 17, when he was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, and February 16, he was mentioned almost 10.8 million times on social media—or 1.3 million times more than Putin.
This is more than half of the 18 million mentions Navalny got for the whole of 2020, when he was the fourth most mentioned politician, well behind the 96 million mentions netted by Putin.
Perhaps more significantly is the increased presence of Navalny on federal and regional media outlets, where he was mentioned over 226,000 times—in second place behind Putin's 291,000 times.
On federal television, Navalny was referred to 447 times, which while three times fewer than Putin (1397), still made him the second most mentioned politician overall, ahead of the prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin (281).
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