Alexey Navalny biography, poisoning, prison, cause of death, wife and children

Alexei Navalny's Biography

Alexei Anatolievich Navalny is a lawyer, a popular opposition blogger and activist, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and the chairman of the Progress Party. In the past, he was a member of the board of directors of Aeroflot. He ran for the position of Mayor of Moscow in the 2013 elections and finished in second place.

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny

Navalny's main activities are aimed at combating corruption. Among the most high-profile investigations by the FBK (or Anti-Corruption Foundation, ACF) led by Navalny and his team are the cases involving Igor Chaika (son of Prosecutor General Yury Chaika), Vladimir Yakunin's "fur storage", Dmitry Peskov's watches, Vladimir Pekhtin's real estate, Sergey Shoigu's mansion, Igor Shuvalov's plane and "tsar apartment", and Dmitry Medvedev's "secret empire". Navalny also actively advocated for the ratification of Article 20 of the UN Convention in Russia, which mandates punishment for the illicit enrichment of officials.

In 2013, Navalny was found guilty in the "Kirovles case". Three years later, the European Court of Human Rights declared the case politically fabricated and sent the verdict back for review, but the court again issued a guilty verdict.

In January 2021, after Alexei Navalny returned from Germany, where he was treated for poisoning that occurred in August 2020, he was arrested for violating his probation in the "Yves Rocher case" since he formally did not have the right to leave Russia. That same year, the FBK and Navalny's Headquarters network were labeled as extremist organizations, and Alexei Navalny himself was added to the list of terrorists and extremists.

In March 2022, Navalny was sentenced to 9 years in prison for "fraud" and "contempt of court". Since June 2022, he was held in IK-6 in the Vladimir region. At the end of 2023, he was secretly transferred to a colony in the village of Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. On February 16, 2024, the Federal Penitentiary Service announced Alexei Navalny's death due to a detached thrombus.

Childhood and Education

Alexei Navalny was born in the suburban military town of Butyn near Moscow. His father, Anatoly Navalny, a native of the Chernobyl region, graduated from the Kiev Military School and was later assigned to Moscow. His mother, Lyudmila Ivanovna, grew up in a village near Zelenograd, graduated from the State University of Management, and worked as a laboratory assistant at a research institute that specialized in microelectronics production; afterwards, she worked at a woodworking factory.

In 1993, Navalny's parents opened a wickerwork shop in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region on the site of a bankrupt factory where Lyudmila Navalnaya had previously worked.

In 1994, the young man graduated from the Alabino School in the suburban settlement of Kalinets and enrolled in the Law Department of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, falling just one point short for admission to Moscow State University. In 1999, he became a student at the Financial Academy under the Government of Russia, studying in the Finance and Credit Department, and in 2001, he received a diploma in Securities and Stock Market.

Alexei Navalny with his mother, aunt, and brother

Much later, in 2010, he became a fellow of the Yale University Yale World Fellows program. Each year, the university selects about 15 gifted individuals, predominantly from third-world countries, and invites them to Yale for six months to study global issues facing our society.

Labor Activity and Business

While still studying at RUDN University, Navalny got a job as a lawyer at Aeroflot Bank. In 1997, he founded the limited liability company "Allekt", and in 1998, he began working for the Chigirinsky brothers' "ST-group" (now "Snegiri"). He worked there for about a year, dealing with currency control and antitrust legislation. In 1999, two things happened – Navalny left "ST-group" and earned his law degree.

Public and Political Activities

In 2000, Alexey Navalny joined the democratic party Yabloko and became a member of its Federal Political Council. Two years later, he was elected to the regional council of Moscow's Yabloko branch. From 2004 to 2007, Navalny led the office of the Moscow Regional branch of the party.

Alexey Navalny was a member of the Yabloko party

In 2007, Navalny was expelled from Yabloko. The stated reason was "causing political damage to the party, including through nationalist activities." Navalny claimed that the real reason for his expulsion was his demand for the resignation of Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky.

In 2004, Navalny founded the "Committee for the Protection of Muscovites," a citywide movement against corruption in urban planning and the infringement of citizens' rights. A year later, Alexey, along with like-minded individuals, was at the forefront of a new youth movement called "DA!" (Yes!). He also coordinated the "Police with the People" project.

Meeting of the Committee for the Protection of Muscovites

Since 2006, Navalny has been coordinating the "Political Debates" project and served as editor-in-chief of the "Fight Club" TV show on TVC.

In 2007, he co-founded the national-democratic movement "Narod" along with writer Zakhar Prilepin and Sergey Gulyaev. It was planned that "Narod" would eventually join the "Another Russia" coalition, but this did not happen.

In 2008, Navalny established the "Union of Minority Shareholders," which defended the rights of private investors.

Navalny participated in nationalist "Russian March" parades. In 2008, he witnessed the brutal detention of the "Slavic Union" leader Dmitry Demushkin by OMON police, and was ready to defend him in court.

Alexey Navalny adheres to nationalist views

In 2008, information emerged about the creation of the "Russian National Movement," which included organizations such as "Great Russia," "Narod," and DPNI. Navalny stated that the movement planned to participate in the State Duma elections. However, in 2011, the movement ceased its activities.

Navalny's video in support of the 'Narod' movement

In 2009, Navalny became an adviser to the governor of the Kirov region, Nikita Belykh, who, as uznayvse.ru editorial team wishes to note, was arrested in the summer of 2016 on charges of receiving a bribe.

Anti-Corruption Activities

In May 2008, Navalny announced on his blog that he and his allies intended to find out why large Russian state-owned oil companies were selling their oil through the trader Gunvor. According to Alexei, he had contacted the heads of Rosneft, Surgutneftegas, and Gazprom Neft, but received no explanations. Navalny is a minority shareholder in these companies, as well as in VTB.

At the end of 2010, Navalny announced the creation of the RosPil project, which aimed to fight abuses in the field of state procurement. By May 2011, the project had reported detecting fraudulent activities in government auctions totaling 1.6 billion rubles, with RosPil participants preventing fraud worth 337 million rubles. The project won an award from the international blog competition The BOBs as the most socially useful resource.

Navalny is often accused of collaborating with Western intelligence agencies

In 2011, Navalny registered the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF, or FBK in Russian). Economists like Sergey Guriev and entrepreneurs Vladimir Ashurkov and Boris Zimin invested in the project.

"Party of Crooks and Thieves" is an internet meme famously coined by Alexei Navalny. The phrase was born on February 2, 2011, during a Finam FM radio broadcast. Soon after, there was information that rank-and-file party members were offended and planned to sue. In response, Navalny initiated a poll on his blog: "Is United Russia a party of crooks and thieves?" Of the 40,000 participants, 96.6% answered "yes."

Navalny on Finam FM

In mid-2011, Alexei Navalny launched the internet project RosYama within the FBK, which aimed to motivate Russian authorities to improve the condition of the country's roads. Users posted photos of damaged roads on the project's pages, which were then used to generate complaints to the traffic police. If there was no response within the required time, RosYama staff would send a letter to the prosecutor's office.

In early 2012, Navalny and his team launched the RosVybory project to monitor the presidential elections. About 17,000 observers participated in the project.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation positions itself as the only non-commercial organization in Russia that investigates acts of corruption among the highest echelons of power.

The FBK has repeatedly targeted Vladimir Yakunin, the head of Russian Railways, alleging that he owns a "modest" dacha near Domodedovo covering several dozen hectares. Internet users were most shocked by a separate room dedicated to storing fur coats.

Navalny caused a stir by uncovering a private plane belonging to Igor Shuvalov, used to transport his Welsh Corgi dogs to shows, as well as the official's purchase of apartments on one floor of an elite high-rise on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment. The FBK estimated the total cost of the apartments before renovation at 600 million rubles.

In August 2018, the FBK released an investigative video featuring State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and his 82-year-old mother Lidia Barabanova, a former schoolteacher. The opposition provided evidence that she owned an apartment worth over 200 million rubles and several businesses, one of which was registered quite recently. Navalny's team claimed that Barabanova was a front for registering companies, with her son being the true owner. The video caused a wide resonance, especially since a few days earlier, Volodin had publicly predicted the complete abolition of pensions if pension reforms were not enacted and advised people to engage more in sports to reach retirement age.

Navalny in the Moscow Mayoral Election

Alexei Navalny announced his candidacy for the position of Moscow's mayor in the early 2013 election, representing the RPR-Parnas party.

Acting Mayor Sergey Sobyanin commented on Navalny's actions as follows: "Frankly, I don't know what prospects candidate Navalny has. We did everything possible to register him, so that Muscovites could have a greater choice among the mayoral candidates."

Navalny took 2nd place in the Moscow mayoral election

Nonetheless, following the public vote, Alexei Navalny finished in second place with 27.24% of the votes.

The Kirovles Case Trial

On December 5, 2011, the day after the State Duma elections, Alexey Navalny spoke at an authorized rally on Chistoprudny Boulevard. The Muscovites who gathered at the rally expressed their disagreement with the election results, accused the electoral commission and the United Russia party of fraud.

After this event, Navalny and his supporters went on an unauthorized march to the Central Election Commission of Russia, where he was detained by the police. The next day, Navalny was found guilty of resisting law enforcement officers and was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention. He was released on December 21.

How Alexei Navalny became Putin's greatest threat

On May 9, 2012, Navalny was again sentenced to 15 days of arrest. This time it was for participating in an unlawful public event at Kudrinskaya Square, the so-called "People's Revelry", which became a mass sign of protest against the crackdown of the "March of Millions" held earlier, on May 6. Participants of the march were unhappy about Vladimir Putin's inauguration. Navalny appealed this detention and arrest to the European Court of Human Rights.

In May 2011, a criminal case was initiated against Alexey Navalny under Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – "causing property damage by deception or breach of trust". The case centered around allegations that Navalny and businessman Pyotr Ofitserov, owner of the "Vyatskaya Forest Company", misled the director of the state enterprise "Kirovles" Vyacheslav Opalev, resulting in him signing a contract unfavorable to his company and incurring losses of 16 million rubles.

Navalny denied the charges, claiming the case was biased because he had recently presented information about embezzlement at "Transneft" in his blog, and also accused Opalev of "creating utterly inconceivable schemes" for selling timber. According to Navalny, he achieved Opalev's dismissal and a full audit of "Kirovles", which served as the reason for initiating the case.

After proceedings, the case was terminated on April 10, 2012, for lack of evidence. It was later reopened by order of the Investigative Committee leaders. However, the resolution to terminate the case was annulled on May 29 of the same year.

The case was brought to court again in April 2013. Witness testimonies for the prosecution indicated that "Kirovles's" cooperation with "VLK" was unprofitable for the former. However, "VLK's" business partners testified that the timber was shipped at market prices and they had no complaints against the defendants. The governor of the Kirov region, Nikita Belykh, who appeared in court, also stated that "VLK's" activities did not harm the region.

On July 18, 2013, Navalny was sentenced to five years in a penal colony and a fine of 500,000 rubles, and Ofitserov to four years in a penal colony with a similar fine. The sentence was passed during Navalny's mayoral campaign.

Navalny was found guilty in the Kirovles case

At the appellate hearing the next day, Navalny and Ofitserov were released on their own recognizance. Further review revealed violations in issuing the guilty verdict, and the actual prison terms were replaced with suspended sentences while retaining the fine.

Alexey Navalny appealed to the ECHR, which in February 2016 confirmed the violation of the defendants' rights in the "Kirovles" case, but did not recognize the case as politically motivated, which Navalny's and Ofitserov's lawyers insisted on.

The Kirovles Case: Navalny's final statement

At the end of 2016, the court began reconsidering the "Kirovles" case. According to Navalny, the new sentence was a verbatim repeat of the previous one. The defendants were again given 4 and 5 years of suspended sentences. On the same day, the ECHR condemned the sentence, stating that the entire process aimed to exclude Navalny from the political process in the country.

Presidential Elections

In December 2016, Alexei Navalny announced his intention to participate in the 2018 presidential elections, thereby launching his campaign. During the campaign, he and his supporters opened several campaign headquarters in major Russian cities.

In March 2017, the Anti-Corruption Foundation posted a 50-minute film on YouTube titled "He Is Not Dimon to You," which investigated a "multi-level corruption scheme" involving Dmitry Medvedev. Three weeks later, massive rallies took place across Russia, with participants demanding Medvedev respond to the allegations made in the video.

On March 26, during an unauthorized rally on Tverskaya Street, Alexei Navalny was detained by law enforcement. He was fined 20,000 rubles for organizing the unauthorized rally and sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention for "resisting a police officer's lawful demand."

Alexei Navalny in court after a rally on Tverskaya

On June 12, a second wave of opposition protests swept through Russia. This time, Alexei was detained by the police before he could even leave his building's entrance. The Simonovsky District Court of Moscow sentenced him to 30 days' detention, accusing him of repeatedly violating the rules for holding rallies: on the evening of June 11, he had called for supporters to join an unauthorized march on Tverskaya Street, where a historical reenactment festival was taking place, instead of the agreed-upon rally on Sakharov Avenue. In total, over 800 people were detained during the opposition rally in Moscow.

As part of his campaign, the politician held a series of large-scale rallies in Russian cities.

The Central Election Commission denied Navalny registration for the presidential elections due to his conviction in the Kirovles case, despite the European Court of Human Rights ruling that deemed the case politically motivated. Afterward, Alexei called for a boycott of the elections and announced a nationwide voters' strike on January 28.

For the action against Vladimir Putin's inauguration titled "He Is Not Your Tsar" (held on 05.05.2018), Navalny was arrested ten days later for 30 days. The campaign ended, and the FBK returned to its main activities: it exposed Mikhail Prokhorov for bribing Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin, found a 2 million euro Paris apartment owned by propagandist Aram Gabrelyanov, and so on.

The Personal Life of Alexey Navalny

Alexey Navalny was married. His wife is named Yulia, and her maiden name is Abrosimova. They met in 1999 while on vacation in Turkey. The couple has two children: a daughter Daria (born in 2001) and a son Zakhar (born in 2008).

Wedding photo of Alexey and Yulia Navalny

For a long time, the family lived in a small apartment in a panel building on Lyublinskaya Street, Maryino. However, at the end of 2016, the opposition leader announced that he was looking for a rental property since his grown children needed more space than what was available in one room.

The Poisoning of Alexei Navalny

On the morning of August 20, 2020, Alexei Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh reported that Alexei had been hospitalized with poisoning. The politician was flying from Tomsk to Moscow but lost consciousness en route. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, and Navalny was taken to the toxicology department, placed in intensive care, connected to a ventilator, and put into a medically induced coma. According to Yarmysh, he had only drunk hot tea that morning.

Alexei's relatives insisted on his transfer to the Charité hospital in Germany. Boris Zimin, president of VimpelCom, sponsored the flight. However, the Omsk hospital staff insisted that Alexei was not fit for transport and refused to discharge him, despite the family's demands. Meanwhile, Yarmysh reported an abundance of "uniformed people" at the hospital.

On the morning of August 22, Navalny was successfully transported to Germany. On the 24th, Charité hospital doctors confirmed that Navalny had been poisoned with a cholinesterase inhibitor similar to the Novichok nerve agent used in the Skripal poisoning in London. In early September, the German government issued an official statement calling for an open investigation into Navalny's poisoning.

On September 7, Alexei Navalny was brought out of the coma and taken off the ventilator. It was reported that the politician was breathing independently and responding to speech. On September 10, Navalny fully regained consciousness, according to Bellingcat and Der Spiegel. On the 15th, Navalny personally reached out to his followers on Instagram:

After being discharged from the hospital, Alexei made it clear that he intended to return to Russia soon. On October 5, Yury Dud's channel released an extensive interview with Alexei and his wife. Navalny became the first person to appear on Yury's show for the second time. The opposition leader spoke in detail about his feelings during the incident and who he believes is responsible.

In December, a video investigation by Bellingcat was released on YouTube, naming Navalny's poisoners – according to the report, they were FSB agents with medical and chemical training. In their investigation, the journalists used information from databases that are commonly believed to be "leaked" for money by security service representatives.

A week later, Alexei posted another video in which he calls one of his potential poisoners and receives confirmation of the information: Navalny was indeed attempted to be poisoned, the poison was applied to the "elastic band of his underwear," and his life was saved only by the plane's early landing and the administration of atropine upon hospitalization. The press immediately dubbed the incident "Underweargate."

Return to Russia

While Alexey was undergoing treatment in Berlin, the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) raised concerns about Navalny's compliance with the probation rules in the Yves Rocher case: he did not fulfill all the FSIN requirements and "evaded inspection control." The claims against Navalny were voiced one day before the end of his probation period (December 30). The FSIN demanded to replace the suspended sentence with actual prison time.

Alexey Navalny's detention at the airport

On January 17, Alexey returned to Moscow. The flight from Berlin was supposed to land at Vnukovo Airport, where, according to the "white counter," more than 2,000 people gathered to meet him, but at the last moment, the plane turned around and flew to Sheremetyevo Airport. Here, Alexey was not allowed to pass through passport control and was taken to a police station in Khimki. The next day, a court session took place there. Although the session was announced as open to the press, journalists from any media except Life and the "Russia" channel were not allowed inside.

Putin's Castle. Navalny Team's Investigation

The court decided to detain Navalny until February 15 as a precautionary measure. After the trial, the opposition politician was sent to the "Matrosskaya Tishina" detention center.

Ultimately, the trial took place on February 2 in the building of the Moscow City Court's appellate chamber. The suspended sentence was replaced with actual imprisonment at the request of the FSIN – Navalny was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, with the 10 months of house arrest being credited. According to sobaka.ru, he will spend a total of 2 years and 8 months in the colony.

Navalny in Prison

Alexei Navalny was sent to serve his sentence at Penal Colony No. 2 in Pokrov, Vladimir Region. This penitentiary is known as a "red" colony, which implies an institution that operates not under the "thieves' law" (as opposed to the "black" colonies) but strictly in accordance with the official law, with every action of the prisoners being monitored by the administration.

Alexei soon started experiencing health issues: his right leg began to fail, followed by numbness spreading to other limbs. During the trial for slandering veteran Artemenko (Navalny had previously referred to people featured in an advertisement supporting amendments to the Constitution, including the war veteran, as "lackeys"), it was evident that the opposition leader was in pain when moving.

All demands to allow Navalny's personal doctor to visit him were ignored despite unequivocal reactions from Western countries and numerous open letters addressed directly to Putin. Among those who signed such appeals were global stars including Joanne Rowling, Thom Yorke, Stephen Fry, and Benedict Cumberbatch. On March 31, 2021, Alexei Navalny declared a hunger strike, limiting his intake to water only.

In mid-April, Navalny's test results were leaked online, showing a "catastrophically high" level of potassium in his body that could lead to cardiac arrest. Following this, Navalny's supporters announced a new protest. On April 19, Navalny was transferred to the regional hospital for prisoners.

On March 22, Alexei was found guilty of slandering a court and of fraud – the court ruled that Navalny had embezzled donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. He was sentenced to 9 years in a maximum-security colony and fined 1.2 million rubles.

Putin critic Alexei Navalny jailed for 19 years by Russian court

In June 2022, Alexei Navalny was transferred to Penal Colony No. 6, located in Melekhovo, Vladimir Region. Reports indicated that from August 2022, he spent over 250 days in solitary confinement.

As of December 5, 2023, Alexei Navalny's whereabouts were unknown. Only three weeks later, his lawyers located him in Penal Colony No. 3 in the settlement of Kharpe, far north of the Arctic Circle.

Death

On February 14, authorities sent Navalny back to solitary confinement for 15 days.

On February 16, 2024, Federal Penitentiary Service representatives announced the death of Alexei Navalny. According to the official statement, Navalny felt unwell after a walk, lost consciousness, and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

Navalny felt ill at 1:00 PM, and his death was pronounced at 2:17 PM. RT, citing sources, believes that the cause of Navalny's death was a pulmonary embolism.

Ethel Pate Journalist

Jon Barnes

During all the time checking all the politicians, Navalny started to pay more attention to not real politic guys but trying to find witches of the government.

2021-05-12 11:51:15
Amy Craig

Alexey Navalny has a natural intelligence, even on marches and protests he is always staying a human.

2021-04-20 18:32:35
Herbert Anderson

He is a real man with right priorities. Navalny is really fighting against corruption and not only talking about it.

2021-03-25 18:00:53
Jessica Garcia

In my opinion Alexey is a very intelligent and literate man with right positions and priorities of life.

2021-03-09 19:41:17
Richard Arnold

Nowadays Navalny it`s not just a last name but he is a symbol of opposition and fight against corruption.

2021-02-18 20:47:20