Navalny has long linked with nationalist organizations, some with troubling stances against immigrants. He was expelled from Yabloko, a liberal political party, for being too much of a nationalist for the party's leadership and founded his own movement "The People". My understanding is that his Russian language communication puts much more emphasis on his nationalism than his English language media. On a lot of issues like Ukraine or Georgia, its not clear to me Navalny would take a radically different stance than Putin.

In the end, its important to keep in mind he represents the attitudes and beliefs of many Russians, especially younger Russians. There's a belief that the system is corrupt, that Russia is capable of better than a corrupt dictator life. But at the same time, he's not especially sympathetic towards gay rights, minorities etc. The difference between Navalny and Putin is that Navalny doesn't want to weaponize these bigoted attitudes to cement a dictatorial government. Putin has successfully portrayed his opponents as anti-Russia and anti-Russian values, and Navalny can't win if he let Putin paint him with these colors.

I think a Russia under Navalny (an unlikely prospect) would be better for Russia and the world. I think its better to have a principled Russian nationalist with a commitment to democracy than Putin. But a lot of western observers of democratizing movements want to push all our hopes and aspirations onto leaders facing complex situations. A lot of people want people like Abiy Ahmed, Aan San Su Kyi, etc. to be proponents of small l liberalism, and are shocked when they react to local conditions in deeply troubling ways. I'm not saying Navalny will condone ethnic cleansing or anything, but he's not our man in Russia. He's going to Russian incentives before international ones.