| Summary: | For about a decade, the Russian opposition politician Aleksej Navalnyj has been a topic in the Swedish news media. Particularly since the end of august 2020, when suspected of having been poisoned with the neurotoxin novitjok. Often described as a freedom fighter in the Swedish press, Navalnyj, however, has a quite varied background in both liberal and nationalist groups. Since the poisoning, however, questions have been raised about Navalnyjs past, who he actually is, and what he wants to achieve. Yet, he tends to be described as a freedom fighter in most texts. In this essay we aim to examine not the narrative of Navalnyjs fight against Vladimir Putin's Russia, but how he is framed in the Swedish news press. To do so, we combine a quantitative digital text analysis with a qualitative frame analysis. By applying a theoretical framework based on acknowledged media theories such as framing and priming theory combined with earlier studies on the topic, we find that Navalnyj tends to be framed as a kind of antithesis to the Russian regime and Putin. Also, it seems the conflict is not limited to the borders of Russia, nor to the Russian people. The European Union is reported to take interest in the conflict, for example, taking Navalnyjs side. A logical explanation may be found in the view on Russia in the Swedish society, which is employed as a frame in the media and hence gets reproduced into society.
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