Death of Alexeï Navalny: the life of the Russian opponent in five dates

Opponents of Vladimir Putin have an unfortunate tendency: they die unexpectedly. Alexeï Navalny, often presented as the No. 1 critic, died in prison this Friday, February 16 in a penal colony in the Arctic. Aged 47, he was serving a 19-year prison sentence there. Le Figaro traces the main dates of this virulent opponent of Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin, then prime minister of Dimitri Medvedev, emerged as the big winner (nearly 50% of the votes) in the legislative elections. The results were contested, and huge demonstrations took place in Moscow on December 5 and 6, 2011. Alexeï Navalny emerged from his status as an unknown lawyer with a slogan: “A Russia without Putin”. He was imprisoned on December 5 and created his anti-corruption foundation the same year.

Navalny was convicted in July 2013 of corruption, a trial denounced as political by the European Union and human rights associations. He nevertheless presents himself as a candidate for the Moscow municipal elections and focuses his campaign on the denunciation of migrants and Putinian policies. Sergei Sobyanin, close to the head of the Kremlin, was however re-elected in the first round, on September 8, 2013. The result was contested and gave rise to significant media coverage of Alexeï Navalny.

Alexeï Navalny ran for the presidential election on December 13, 2016. Several legal proceedings were launched against him and he spent several stays in prison. He is focusing his campaign around denouncing Vladimir Putin's policies, his desire to reform the State and Russian justice, and to get closer to the West. His candidacy was, however, rejected.

The opponent of Vladimir Putin was urgently hospitalized on August 20, 2020 in an intensive care unit in Omsk. Those around him very quickly suspected an attempted poisoning. He was finally exfiltrated to Berlin for treatment. The government claims to have found traces of Novichok, a poison used by Russian services. On January 17, 2021, he flew to Russia where he was immediately arrested. Two days later, he published information which, according to him, proved that Vladimir Putin had vast financial assets, as well as luxury tastes. On October 20, 2021, he received the Sakharov Prize for defending freedom of thought.

On August 4, 2023, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison for “extremism”. Alexeï Navalny was transferred at the end of 2023 to a penal colony in the Arctic, with particularly harsh climatic conditions. On February 1, he called for demonstrations throughout Russia for the presidential election scheduled for March 15 to 17. He was declared dead by Russian authorities on February 16, 2024.