Russian opposition leader. Anti-Corruption Activist. Assassination survivor. Prisoner.
Alexei Navalny’s crusade against the Kremlin has earned him many labels.
And with the world’s eyes now on Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his brutal invasion of Ukraine, Navalny’s message of resistance finds new weight inside and outside Russia, even as he remains behind bars.
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing,” he says. Iteration of the famous quote, of unknown origin, in the new CNN film “Navalny,” which premieres on CNN this Sunday, April 24 at 9 p.m. ET. “So don’t be idle.”
Here’s what you need to know about Navalny’s political rise, assassination attempts and future in Russia:
rise to prominence Navalny first came to prominence in 2008 when he started blogging about alleged corruption in Russian state-owned companies. Until 2011, he was one of the leaders of the massive protests that broke out after allegations of fraud in the general election.
“Those who have gathered here can kick these thieves***** out of the Kremlin tomorrow,” Navalny said at a protest in 2011.
In July 2013, he released his first YouTube video, a step-by-step guide showing how to build an “agitation cube,” a box-like tent structure with his image emblazoned on the side. The clip marked the beginning of the Russian dissident’s campaign for mayor of Moscow and the humble beginning of his YouTube revolution.
But his movement was blunted when he was convicted of embezzlement just as he was preparing to run for mayor. Navalny has denied the allegations and described them as politically motivated. A retrial in 2017 prevented him from running for public office – this time for president against Putin.
While Navalny is best known as an activist, his investigations are the biggest thorn in the side of some of Russia’s powerful. In particular, his videos about the seemingly unexplained wealth of senior government officials have drawn the Kremlin’s ire.
A video about former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has been viewed more than 35 million times on YouTube.
But with increasing results came increased risks. In March 2017, this video lit a spark among the largest anti-government protests Russia had seen in years. Thousands took part in rallies in nearly 100 cities across Russia. Navalny himself was arrested and imprisoned for 15 days.
The following month he was spattered with an antiseptic green dye, which damaged his vision in one eye.
“Listen, I have something very obvious to tell you. You mustn’t give up. If they decide to kill me, it means we are incredibly strong,” Navalny told his followers in the CNN film.
“We need to use that power, not give up, remember we are a huge force oppressed by these bad guys. We don’t know how strong we actually are,” he continued.
poisoning and recovery By 2020 there were signs that the ground was shifting under Navalny’s opposition movement.
The Kremlin had taken a more publicly confrontational stance toward its chief critic, culminating in allegations of a poisoning attempt in August of that year.
Navalny felt uncomfortable on a return flight from Tomsk in Siberia to Moscow. Loud moans can be heard in video footage apparently captured of his flight. Another video, apparently taken through the plane window, showed an immobile man being carried on a wheeled stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
Navalny was treated in a Berlin hospital, and the German government later concluded that he had been poisoned with a chemical nerve agent manufactured by the Novichok group.
A joint investigation by CNN and the group Bellingcat implicated the Russian Security Service (FSB) in Navalny’s poisoning and pieced together how an elite agency unit followed Navalny’s team during a trip to Siberia when Navalny became ill from contact with Novichok.
The investigation also revealed that this unit, which included chemical weapons experts, had accompanied Navalny on more than 30 trips to and from Moscow since 2017. Russia denies involvement in Navalny’s poisoning. Putin himself said in December that if Russian security services wanted to kill Navalny, they would have “finished” the job.
Still, several Western officials and Navalny himself have openly blamed the Kremlin.
“It’s impossible to believe. It’s kind of stupid that the whole idea of poisoning with a chemical weapon, what the heck?” Says Navalny in the new CNN film. “That’s why it’s so smart, because even sane people don’t want to believe, huh? Come on…poisoned? In earnest?”
The news that Navalny was seriously ill sent a new shockwave through Russian society and drew worrying parallels with some of the brazen political assassinations of Russia’s recent past.
Western governments, independent researchers, and Russia observers have noted a consistent pattern of Russian state involvement in assassinations both inside Russia and abroad.
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Tune in tomorrow at 9pm ET to watch the CNN movie “Navalny” on CNN.