Alexei Navalny
Alexei Anatolievich Navalny (June 4, 1976 - February 16, 2024) was a Russian lawyer, nationalist-leaning opposition leader, anti-corruption crusader, and political prisoner. He was the most prominent domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which exposed the wealth of Russia's ruling elite.[1] He survived a Novichok nerve-agent poisoning in 2020, returned voluntarily to Russia knowing he would likely be arrested, and died in an Arctic penal colony in 2024 while serving a sentence he and his allies called politically motivated.[2]
Early life and education
Navalny was the son of a Soviet military officer and an economist, and spent much of his youth at his father's garrison postings. His visits to his grandmother near Chernobyl, and the Soviet cover-up of the 1986 disaster, appear to have been a formative experience.[1]
Political views
Navalny made the fight against state corruption the center of his politics, attacking a system in which officials and politically connected oligarchs enriched themselves at the expense of ordinary taxpayers.[1]
Faith
Navalny came to Christianity as an adult after having been an atheist. In a 2021 court statement he described his Christian faith in explicitly biblical terms, and he is reported to have said that it set him apart from the largely atheist staff of the FBK.[3]
Immigration, firearms, and nationalism
Unusually among Russian opposition figures, Navalny advocated legal firearm ownership for self-defense and called for tighter controls on migration from Central Asia.
Death
Navalny died on February 16, 2024 at the Arctic penal colony. Russian officials reportedly cited "sudden death syndrome" and refused for days to release his body to his family.[4] More than 400 people were detained in Russia for attending memorials to him.[5]
President Donald Trump, asked whether Putin bore responsibility, said it was "probably" the case, adding that "something happened that was unusual" for a man of Navalny's age.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hayward, John (February 16, 2024). The Life and Death of Putin Gadfly Alexei Navalny. Breitbart News.
- ↑ Russian Dissident Alexei Navalny Disappears from Prison, Whereabouts Unknown. Breitbart News, December 12, 2023.
- ↑ Putin foe Alexei Navalny leaned on Christian faith before death. The Christian Post (originally published by Christian Today), 2024.
- ↑ Hayward, John (February 19, 2024). "Russia Says Alexei Navalny Died of 'Sudden Death Syndrome,' Keeping Body from Family." Breitbart News. Listed here.
- ↑ Breitbart London (February 18, 2024). "Over 400 Arrested for Attending Navalny Memorial Demonstrations in Russia." Breitbart News. Listed here.
- ↑ Trump: Putin 'Probably' Involved In Navalny's Death. The Daily Wire, 2024.