Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (1976–2024) was the most prominent Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption activist, and political prisoner of the 21st century. Trained in law and finance, he rose to international fame as a blogger exposing high-level graft within state-controlled corporations like Gazprom, Rosneft, and Transneft. In 2011, he founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which became the most effective investigative media outlet in Russia, utilizing drones and open-source data to expose the hidden wealth of the ruling elite.

Navalny's political influence was cemented by his labeling of the ruling United Russia party as the "party of crooks and thieves". He achieved a major breakthrough in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election, officially winning 27.2% of the vote. His landmark investigations—including the documentary on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the 2021 film "Putin’s Palace" (which garnered over 180 million views)—exposed a $1.35 billion estate on the Black Sea and triggered massive nationwide protests.

In August 2020, Navalny survived an assassination attempt involving a Novichok nerve agent applied to his clothing. Independent investigations by Bellingcat and The Insider linked the attack to a specialized FSB chemical weapons unit. Despite the clear threat to his life, Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021 and was immediately detained at the airport. He was subsequently handed a series of sentences totaling over 30 years on charges of fraud, contempt of court, and extremism, which international bodies denounced as politically motivated.

Navalny spent his final months in the IK-3 "Polar Wolf" penal colony, a brutal facility north of the Arctic Circle. He was subjected to conditions described as "legalized torture," including being sent to solitary confinement (ShIZO) 27 times, totaling over 300 days. On February 16, 2024, the Russian prison service reported that Navalny "felt unwell" after a walk and lost consciousness, after which resuscitation measures failed.

While the Kremlin initially attributed his death to "natural causes" such as an irregular heartbeat, a 2026 joint statement by the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands confirmed that forensic analysis of biological samples conclusively detected epibatidine. This rare and lethal neurotoxin, derived from South American poison dart frogs, causes paralysis and respiratory arrest. The European coalition held the Russian state responsible, asserting that only a state actor had the means and motive to deploy such a sophisticated toxin.

Navalny’s legacy is carried on by his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who has stepped into a leadership role for the Russian opposition in exile. She has vowed to continue his fight for a "Beautiful Russia of the Future" and has campaigned for international sanctions against Putin’s inner circle. Posthumously, Navalny has been honored with numerous global accolades, and his memoir, Patriot, was named Book of the Year in the UK.

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