It's hard not to admire Ilya Yashin's bravery.
It's hard not to respect Yashin's willingness to challenge Ramzan Kadyrov even as the Chechen strongman openly threatens him and other opposition figures.
It's hard not to be impressed by Yashin's willingness to publicly take on a man widely believed to have a license to kill from the Kremlin -- and widely suspected of being behind the assassination of Boris Nemtsov nearly one year ago this week.
And it's hard not to applaud Yashin's willingness to persevere in the face of public indifference and official hostility -- simply because it's the right thing to do.
Yashin's report on Kadyrov -- titled National Security Threat -- will be released today. It will focus on the Chechen leader's private army, his ties to organized crime, and his involvement in political assassinations.
It will get the expected attention in opposition circles. But at the end of the day, it probably won't change much.
Kadyrov will continue to have impunity and continue to be a menace.
Those behind the assassinations of Nemtsov, Natalya Estemirova, and Anna Politkovskaya won't be brought to justice.
But when this regime finally passes from the scene, as all regimes do, history will show that a brave young man named Ilya Yashin was willing to risk his life to tell the truth -- when so many others were frightened into silence and acquiescence.
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