Famous blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny is the only Russian who has made it onto Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Navalny, 35, has become famous for building a network to reveal the corruption of Russia’s ruling regime, “relentlessly documenting the kleptocracy case by case, with popular outrage as the result,” Garry Kasparov, a Russian chess champion, author and activist, wrote in Time.
There were an estimated 3 million internet users in Russia in 2000 when Putin took power and 35 million in 2008 when his second term ended, and today there are more than 60 million, or 44 percent of the population, the magazine said.
Time magazine does not class the 100 figures by the influence they wield or award ratings.
Other most influential people of 2012 include US President Barack Obama, his main rival in the forthcoming election Mitt Romney, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, IMF director Christine Lagarde and investor Warren Buffett.
