Alexei Navalny was watching his favorite show, Rick and Morty, when he suddenly began to feel unwell. He was 21 minutes into an episode where Rick transforms into a pickle. The late Russian opposition leader was on a flight back to Moscow after campaigning ahead of regional elections in the Siberian city of Tomsk in August 2020. Something was clearly amiss, and Navalny staggered to the bathroom.
There, he remembers having the grim realization: “I’m done for.” He informed a skeptical steward that he had been poisoned and then calmly lay down in the aisle, facing a wall. Life didn’t flash before his eyes. Instead, he describes his experience of death – or near-death, as it turned out – as something from a dark fantasy. It was like being “kissed by a Dementor and a Nazgûl stands nearby.”
He is certain that the order to kill him with the nerve agent novichok came from Vladimir Putin. Navalny describes Russia’s president as a “bribe-taking old man” and a “vengeful runt” who leads a “sinister regime”. The assassins were members of the FSB, the successor agency to the KGB. Navalny spent 18 days in a coma, waking up in a hospital in Germany.
It was during his recovery in Freiburg that he began writing the first part of his remarkable memoir, Patriot. The second part comprises letters from prison, following his return to Moscow in January 2021, when he was arrested at the airport. Navalny knew that by writing an autobiography, the Kremlin could potentially end his life. “If they do finally get rid of me, this book will serve as my memorial,” he remarks.
Critics view Navalny as a closet nationalist. However, Patriot advocates for Russia to withdraw its troops, respect Ukraine’s 1991 borders, and provide compensation.
It took three years for his darkly humorous prophecy to come true. Navalny passed away in February this year, with his likely murder occurring in an Arctic penal colony. He was 47. Prison documents suggest he was poisoned, and the authorities disposed of the evidence: clothing, vomit, and even snow that he had come into contact with.
This is a courageous and brilliant book, offering a vivid account of Navalny’s life and struggles. It presents a challenge from beyond the grave to Russia’s murderous leaders. His voice shines through in the skillful translation by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel: sharp, playful, and devoid of self-pity. Nothing breaks his spirit. Right up until the end – his final entry on 17 January 2024 – he exudes unwavering good humor.
Patriot includes a manifesto outlining how the country could be transformed: through free elections, a constitutional assembly, decentralization, and a European orientation. In the days leading up to his murder, he predicted the downfall of the Putin regime, while acknowledging the resilience of autocracies.
Trained as a lawyer, Navalny first gained attention as a transparency activist. He purchased shares in notoriously corrupt oil and gas companies and posed difficult questions at shareholder meetings. With the Kremlin controlling most media outlets, Navalny published his exposés online. In 2011, he established FBK, an anti-corruption organization that evolved into a grassroots national movement run by volunteers. He takes pride in how his campaigns inspired young Russians to engage in opposition politics. Police detained him for the first time in 2011 during protests against rigged Duma elections. Undeterred, he later ran for mayor of Moscow, finishing second, before being caught in a cycle of rallies, arrests, and stints in custody.
The Kremlin responded harshly to his activities. His brother, Oleg, was imprisoned after a sham trial, and Navalny was attacked with a chemical substance that left him blind in one eye. In 2016, he attempted to run for president. His videos, exposing Putin’s opulent Sochi palace and former president Dmitry Medvedev’s corrupt schemes, garnered millions of views. Navalny writes emotionally about his wife, Yulia, whom he met while on vacation in Turkey, as a constant source of support throughout this period.
Given his understanding of Putin’s authoritarian tactics, why did he return to Moscow? Navalny explains that striving to transform Russia into a normal state was “the work of my life.” He was unwilling to abandon his homeland or his convictions. Initially, the conditions in jail were tolerable. Supporters sent him numerous letters and even a tiramisu cake. In one entry, Navalny muses on humanity’s remarkable ability to find joy in simple things, like instant coffee.
While behind bars, he conversed with fellow inmates and read books. He favored Maupassant over Flaubert and found enjoyment in Oliver Twist (though he questions Dickens’ portrayal of working-class dialogue). The FSB kept him under constant surveillance, with prison guards wearing body cameras and issuing commands.
As conditions deteriorated, Navalny made fewer diary entries. More unjust “convictions” piled up – for insulting a war veteran and for extremism. He was transferred from one penitentiary to another. Meanwhile, sadistic prison staff refused to address his back pain, leading him to undertake a hunger strike. He was labeled a flight risk, subjected to frequent nighttime disturbances, confined to a tiny punishment cell, and denied access to his wife’s letters.
None of these hardships prevented Navalny from condemning Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as an “unjust war of aggression.” He believes the war stems from Putin’s desperate desire to cling to power and an obsession with his “historical legacy.” While some view Navalny as a covert nationalist, Patriot advocates for Russia to pull back its troops, honor Ukraine’s 1991 borders, and compensate for damages.
During one of Yulia’s visits, Navalny expressed to her the high likelihood that he would not leave prison alive. “They will poison me,” he stated. “I know,” she replied. He contemplates the implications of this scenario – no chance to bid farewell, never meeting his grandchildren, graduation ceremonies taking place without him. Perhaps an unmarked grave. His philosophy: hope for the best, prepare for the worst. His passing is a significant loss, not only for Russia but for all of us.
Luke Harding’s book, Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival, is published by Guardian Faber. Patriot by Alexei Navalny, translated by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel, is published by Bodley Head (£25). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.