As Protests Shake Russia, Kremlin Drops Its ‘Navalny Who?’ Tack A stark shift by the government shows its uncertainty as Aleksei A. Navalny’s dramatic return gives disgruntled Russians a clear leader to rally around. Tens of thousands of protesters across Russia demonstrated on Saturday in response to the jailing of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny.Credit...Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times Jan. 24, 2021 MOSCOW — For years, the Kremlin tried to ignore the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, right down to avoiding the very mention of his name. But by Sunday, Russian officials had drastically reversed course. President Vladimir V. Putin’s spokesman appeared on a prime-time show on state television and denied Mr. Navalny’s assertion that Mr. Putin had a secret palace on the Black Sea. On another marquee program, the host devoted 40 minutes to Mr. Navalny, who was described as engaging in “political pedophilia.” And the evening newscast showed tweets by Western officials in support of Mr. Navalny as proof that he was working against Russian interests.