It was inevitable. The prominent Russian anti-corruption activist, armed with a law degree and an engaging presence, Alexi Navalny spoke out, criticizing Putin’s rule. He had 40 offices across the country dedicated to conducting investigations into high-level crime and human rights violations. These facilities were also used to organize Navalny’s political network. He was Putin’s most popular and, as such, dangerous opposition. His prominence increased with large-scale protests against the Russian government.
Who could think this would end any other way?
It has become a source of humor for those of us far out of Putin’s grasp. Those who speak out against him, reporters, bloggers, (eek) military leaders and political opposition, anyone within reach who strikes a nerve, are often discovered with their face on a table in a cup of polonium tea. Or they might be found at the bottom of a long staircase. They could trip near an open window, falling victim to the Russian flu/flew, or they may have chosen the wrong business jet to travel on, one that explodes in flight, taking a few unsuspecting crew members with them.
Navalny has had a target on his back for several years. On August 20, 2020, he was hospitalized in Omsk after losing consciousness on a domestic flight over Siberia. His spokesperson said he had been poisoned, perhaps by a cup of tea he drank before takeoff. Russian doctors treating him said they found “no trace” of poison in his blood or urine.
Navalny was airlifted to a hospital in Germany for treatment and put into a medically induced coma.
His team in Russia discovered poison on a bottle in his hotel room.
On September 2, 2020, German officials maintained there is “unequivocal proof,” tests taken by German doctors showing Navalny had indeed been poisoned with a nerve agent.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said he was the victim of attempted murder. International calls for an investigation into the incident mounted unsuccessfully because the Kremlin simply rejected the claims.
On September 7, German doctors took Navalny out of the coma.
A week later, laboratories in France and Sweden confirmed Germany’s findings that Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. French President Emmanuel Macron urged Putin to address the “attempted murder”, but the Russian leader dismissed it all as “unsubstantiated” accusations.
When Navalny could breathe unaided, he posted a photo of himself on social media, sitting up in his hospital bed looking gaunt. He was with his wife, Yulia, and two children.
Doctors announced a “complete recovery is possible.” Still hospitalized in Germany, Navalny accused Putin of being behind his poisoning and said he would not give the Russian president the pleasure of being in exile.
Okay… wut?
On October 1, the hospital discharged him and the Kremlin declared Navalny was welcome to come back to Moscow.
Hmm. This is the point in the movie when you scream at the screen, “DON’T DO IT!” He did it.
Yes, it was brave, and he was standing up to tyranny, but that mistake could only end the way it did today. I suppose if they wanted to kill him, they could do it in any country. It wouldn’t be the first time. Going back made it easy.
Navalny was scheduled to return to Berlin for further treatment in December but fell ill on the flight from Siberia to Moscow. A second dose of poison was suspected. During that flight, the second murder attempt, a doctor on board acted and saved Navalny’s life.
“Sergey Maximishin, who was the deputy chief physician of the Omsk emergency hospital, died a mysterious death at the age of 55,” according to a statement released by the hospital. They killed the doctor who helped of Navalny.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/02/04/europe/russia-navalny-doctor-maximishin-dies-intl/index.html
Navalny offered proof that they poisoned him a second time on December 21, 2020, releasing a recording of an FSB agent confessing he tried to kill him by putting poison in his underpants. The FSB denounces the video clip of the phone call as “fake”.
This is the sequel to the movie I mentioned earlier. Despite our screaming, on January 17, 2021, Navalny returned to Russia (again, why?) and, of course, was detained upon landing in Moscow.
Several European and world powers demanded his immediate release. Putin didn’t care.
Pre-trial detention became a two and a half year sentence, then nine years were added and finally, after Russia invaded Ukraine, and Navalny condemned the war in social media posts from prison and during his court appearances,
19 more years, padded his sentence. They would never release him.
On March 12, 2023, – A film “Navalny” was released. It won the Academy Award for best documentary feature.
On December 11, 2023, Alexi Navalny’s lawyers were told by the prison that his name was no longer on the roster. He wasn’t there. The Kremlin claimed “no information”.
After three weeks, on December 25, 2023, they found Navalny at a prison colony above the Arctic Circle.
The following week, Navalny posted online that officials punished him by isolating him in a cell over minor infractions.
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/25/1221511047/alexei-navalny-russia-penal-colony-located
On February 15, 2024, Navalny was last seen via video link in a court hearing. He was thin and pale, but he laughed and joked with his visitors.
February 16, 2024, state media reported Navalny’s death at age 47.
The story put out by the Russian media is that he was out for a stroll on the prison grounds and suffered a blood clot.
The Timing of Navalny’s murder, in the same week that Speaker Mike Johnson blocked a House vote on aid for Ukraine, is suspicious. Did that and Trump’s recent incoherent message to Putin that he would encourage Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to any NATO country that doesn’t pay enough, give Putin the assurance he needed to assassinate? I know one thing for sure. The Republican Party is in bed with Vladimir Putin.
Weird, right? Have any of you had calls from Russia?