Whereas Alexei Navalny is depicted as Putin’s major domestic political rival in the Western media, he is in fact a virtual laughingstock among the Russian public, garnering about 1% of their support. Which means that, whereas Putin would have no motivation whatever to murder him, his assassination – or faked attempted assassination – would work wonderfully well as a false flag with the Western public for further demonizing Putin and pushing the Russophobic NATO agenda.