Bad take.

Putin is not good, but he also isn’t Hitler. He is not an absolute evil. And regardless of the unknowable legitimacy of Russia’s elections, he’s more popular in Russia than most American Presidents are in the U.S. And at least to me, popularity is a better metric for Democracy than anything else.

Navalny is worse than Putin. Regardless of anything else, Putin believes in Multiculturalism and Ethnopluralism (his nationalism is a Civic nationalism, not an Ethnic nationalism). Navalny has significantly less support in Russia than Putin; him being put in charge would be inherently undemocratic. Navalny would also be a Dictator; he would just be a Pro-Democracy Dictator.

And this isn’t even touching on Geopolitics. Navalny is an opportunist who seeks to sell out Russia to the West. Putin is aligned with other anti-Imperialist global forces, such as China and Iran.

Putin is the pragmatic choice, not Navalny.