Vladimir Putin vs Alexei Navalny: 10 key dates in Kremlin critic’s rebellion
Russia’s top opposition politician Alexei Navalny survived a poisoning attack in 2020 only to be sentenced to 19 years in a penal colony.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via video link from a penal colony.(Reuters)
After his allies said he had been transferred to an Arctic prison after more than two weeks in which his whereabouts were unknown, here are 10 key dates in his campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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2007: anti-corruption campaigner
Navalny begins buying shares in state-owned oil giants to access company reports and scour them for evidence of corruption, which he documents on his blog.
The same year he is excluded from the liberal opposition party Yabloko for taking part in “nationalist activities”.
December 2011: leads election protests
In 2011, Navalny sets up the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which gains a huge following with exposes about the vast riches amassed by Kremlin elites.
In the winter of 2011-2012, he leads huge protests after parliamentary elections won by Putin’s United Russia party, a vote marred by allegations of fraud.
July 2013: embezzlement conviction
In 2013, Navalny is convicted of defrauding the government in the Kirov region of 16 million rubles ($500,000) in a timber deal while acting as an advisor to the governor.
He denies the charges, claiming they are an attempt to silence him.
September 2013: Moscow mayoral bid
Navalny finishes a strong second behind Kremlin-backed incumbent Sergei Sobyanin in the race for mayor of Moscow.
Navalny says Sobyanin rigged the vote at several polling stations, but his calls for a recount are dismissed.
March 2017: Medvedev ‘duck’ expose
Navalny publishes a high-profile video about the lavish lifestyle of then prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, which includes a claim that one of his estates has a duck house in the middle of a pond, sparking rallies.
December 2018: barred from presidential election
Navalny is barred from running for president against Putin because of his embezzlement conviction.
He urges Russians to boycott the vote, which nonetheless sees Putin secure a fourth term.
August 2020: poisoning
Navalny is hospitalised on August 20, 2020, in Siberia and placed in a medically induced coma after losing consciousness during a flight.
He is transferred to a hospital in Berlin, where tests show he was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.
He accuses Putin of being behind his poisoning, which the Kremlin denies.
January-February 2021: arrested and jailed
Navalny returns to Moscow, where he is detained shortly after landing at the airport.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrate across Russia for his release.
In February, he is handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence for breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence while recuperating in Germany, and sent to a penal colony.
March 2022: nine-year sentence
Navalny’s sentence is increased to nine years after a conviction on new charges of embezzlement and contempt of court.
He is transferred to a maximum-security prison around 250 kilometres (155 miles) east of Moscow, from where he regularly denounces the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
August 2023: 19 years
A gaunt Navalny, who has experienced major weight loss in prison, is sentenced to an additional 19 years at a harsher “special regime” facility on charges of “extremism”.
Navalny goes missing for over two weeks in December in what his allies say is an effort to silence him ahead of a presidential election in March 2024.
On December 25, his allies say he has finally been located in a remote penal colony north of the Arctic Circle and his lawyer has been able to visit him.
