Why and How Did Alexei Navalny Die in a Russian Prison? by Emma Schoonmaker
Last Friday, February 16, 2024, Vladimir Putin’s largest and most notorious opponent died in a Russian prison at the age of 47.
His name was Alexei Navalny, and he had been publicly promoting his cause, which was to expose and end the corrupt Russian government, for nearly 15 years. Before he became famous, though, he worked his way up from being a lawyer who graduated from Russia’s RUDN University, majoring in law. After college, Navalny began to form movements and organizations that revealed and exposed the corruption in Russia's government. In December 2011, he started participating in protests against the Russian government, resulting in 15 days in jail for “defying a government official.” That was just the beginning of a list of instances from December 2011 to January 2020 where Navalny was charged with allegations, and he responded by either claiming that they were politically motivated, or appealing the court decision.
Navalny stayed strong throughout all of it, even attempting to run for mayor and president. There was a time when he was put on house arrest and banned from using the internet; despite this, his team continued to blog about their cause. In August 2020, Navalny was on his way back from working with local activists when he became sick. The plane he was on made an emergency landing, and Navalny was hospitalized in a coma; his team suspected he was poisoned somehow. While in a coma, he was flown to a hospital in Berlin, Germany, where the authorities confirmed that he was indeed poisoned. Once awakened, Navalny accused Putin of wrongdoing. Navalny spent five months living in Germany, and when he got back home, he was arrested for violating a prior sentence by recovering in Germany. This particular arrest set off some of the most significant protests in Russia where thousands of people were arrested. His imprisonment lasted from January 2021 until his death, as he was sentenced to 19 years due to his “extremist” actions. During that time, he was moved around to several different prisons.
While in prison, Navalny did not let the solitude swallow him whole; he stayed busy and active, doing as much as he could to further promote his cause. When posting on social media and/or in videos from his prison cell, he often expressed his utter confoundment at the absurdity of the charges and allegations being made against him, doing so with sarcasm and derision and acknowledging of the irony of it all. He publicly made references to his imprisonment as his “space voyage.” The thing that brought him the most comfort and consolation was his letters. Navalny wrote and sent out letters to his friends, family, and anyone else he wanted to. That was one thing he was not denied in prison. In those letters, he described what his days looked like: reading 44 English books, studying political memoirs, refining his agenda, arguing with journalists, and dispensing career advice to his friends. Via a website, people responded to him by paying 40 cents per page, but everything being digitally transferred in and out of the prison was censored and scanned by the Russian government. He performed a three-week-long hunger strike. In the videos from his cell, he made hearts with his hands for his wife, and sent her love notes which were posted on social media. Through all of this, though, there were many injustices done to him, such as placing him in solitary confinement because his clothes were improperly buttoned, or because his face was not washed at a specific time. There were reports of the prison workers, under Putin’s instruction, neglecting to medicate Navalny when he was sick with the flu. The main thing that Navalny continuously complained about was the rule that only one book at a time is allowed per prison cell. He said to the court, “I want to have 10 books in my cell.”
The last prison Navalny was held in was a “special regime” Siberian penal colony above the Arctic Circle, and those prisons are also known as the highest security level of prisons in Russia. The Federal Penitentiary Service came out with the initial report of his death on the day it happened. They claimed that Navalny had been taking a walk and felt ill afterward, leading him to collapse on the ground. An ambulance came to the site but failed to resuscitate him. Navalny’s team was not immediately informed of his death, nor did they get any confirmation of the death until a while afterward. The location of his body has not been disclosed, and Navalny’s family has been kept in the dark regarding any crucial information or details.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has announced that she will carry on her husband’s cause and legacy, as she has been by his side through everything she could possible. In her emotional announcement on Alexei’s YouTube channel, she said that there is no reason to stop and that someone has to take the reigns. She encouraged everyone to fight with her. Also in this video, she makes her claim that Vladimir Putin is the reason for Alexei’s death. Alexei’s supporters have been publicly mourning their leader by placing large posters and pictures of him on the streets with flowers and supportive notes.
There is an Oscar-winning documentary film made about his life and his accomplishments, in which there is a recorded video of Navalny giving a message to his supporters, in the event that he should die. In this video, the big idea that he was trying to get across was that Putin’s opposing group is stronger than people may think and that the fact that he has died means that Putin feels threatened.
His name was Alexei Navalny, and he had been publicly promoting his cause, which was to expose and end the corrupt Russian government, for nearly 15 years. Before he became famous, though, he worked his way up from being a lawyer who graduated from Russia’s RUDN University, majoring in law. After college, Navalny began to form movements and organizations that revealed and exposed the corruption in Russia's government. In December 2011, he started participating in protests against the Russian government, resulting in 15 days in jail for “defying a government official.” That was just the beginning of a list of instances from December 2011 to January 2020 where Navalny was charged with allegations, and he responded by either claiming that they were politically motivated, or appealing the court decision.
Navalny stayed strong throughout all of it, even attempting to run for mayor and president. There was a time when he was put on house arrest and banned from using the internet; despite this, his team continued to blog about their cause. In August 2020, Navalny was on his way back from working with local activists when he became sick. The plane he was on made an emergency landing, and Navalny was hospitalized in a coma; his team suspected he was poisoned somehow. While in a coma, he was flown to a hospital in Berlin, Germany, where the authorities confirmed that he was indeed poisoned. Once awakened, Navalny accused Putin of wrongdoing. Navalny spent five months living in Germany, and when he got back home, he was arrested for violating a prior sentence by recovering in Germany. This particular arrest set off some of the most significant protests in Russia where thousands of people were arrested. His imprisonment lasted from January 2021 until his death, as he was sentenced to 19 years due to his “extremist” actions. During that time, he was moved around to several different prisons.
While in prison, Navalny did not let the solitude swallow him whole; he stayed busy and active, doing as much as he could to further promote his cause. When posting on social media and/or in videos from his prison cell, he often expressed his utter confoundment at the absurdity of the charges and allegations being made against him, doing so with sarcasm and derision and acknowledging of the irony of it all. He publicly made references to his imprisonment as his “space voyage.” The thing that brought him the most comfort and consolation was his letters. Navalny wrote and sent out letters to his friends, family, and anyone else he wanted to. That was one thing he was not denied in prison. In those letters, he described what his days looked like: reading 44 English books, studying political memoirs, refining his agenda, arguing with journalists, and dispensing career advice to his friends. Via a website, people responded to him by paying 40 cents per page, but everything being digitally transferred in and out of the prison was censored and scanned by the Russian government. He performed a three-week-long hunger strike. In the videos from his cell, he made hearts with his hands for his wife, and sent her love notes which were posted on social media. Through all of this, though, there were many injustices done to him, such as placing him in solitary confinement because his clothes were improperly buttoned, or because his face was not washed at a specific time. There were reports of the prison workers, under Putin’s instruction, neglecting to medicate Navalny when he was sick with the flu. The main thing that Navalny continuously complained about was the rule that only one book at a time is allowed per prison cell. He said to the court, “I want to have 10 books in my cell.”
The last prison Navalny was held in was a “special regime” Siberian penal colony above the Arctic Circle, and those prisons are also known as the highest security level of prisons in Russia. The Federal Penitentiary Service came out with the initial report of his death on the day it happened. They claimed that Navalny had been taking a walk and felt ill afterward, leading him to collapse on the ground. An ambulance came to the site but failed to resuscitate him. Navalny’s team was not immediately informed of his death, nor did they get any confirmation of the death until a while afterward. The location of his body has not been disclosed, and Navalny’s family has been kept in the dark regarding any crucial information or details.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has announced that she will carry on her husband’s cause and legacy, as she has been by his side through everything she could possible. In her emotional announcement on Alexei’s YouTube channel, she said that there is no reason to stop and that someone has to take the reigns. She encouraged everyone to fight with her. Also in this video, she makes her claim that Vladimir Putin is the reason for Alexei’s death. Alexei’s supporters have been publicly mourning their leader by placing large posters and pictures of him on the streets with flowers and supportive notes.
There is an Oscar-winning documentary film made about his life and his accomplishments, in which there is a recorded video of Navalny giving a message to his supporters, in the event that he should die. In this video, the big idea that he was trying to get across was that Putin’s opposing group is stronger than people may think and that the fact that he has died means that Putin feels threatened.