Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny died on Friday in the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia's federal penitentiary service said.
Navalny lost consciousness after a walk and doctors were unable to revive him, the prison service explained.
Here are some of the key events in his life:
August 20, 2020 – Navalny is hospitalized in the Siberian city of Omsk after falling ill and losing consciousness during a flight over Siberia. Navalny's spokeswoman says he was poisoned, perhaps by a cup of tea he drank before takeoff from Tomsk's Bogashevo airport, but Russian doctors who treated him say they found “no trace” in his blood or urine. he.
August 22, 2020 – Navalny is flown to Charite hospital in the German capital, Berlin, for treatment. The Russian medical team that treated him initially refused transfer, before later releasing him. German doctors say their tests indicate Navalny was poisoned.
September 2, 2020 – German officials say there is “unequivocal evidence” that Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, a Soviet-era chemical weapon. Chancellor Angela Merkel says Navalny is the victim of an assassination attempt, adding that there are “serious questions that only the Russian government can and should answer.” International calls are growing for an investigation into the incident.
September 3, 2020 – The Kremlin rejects claims, including those from Navalny's team, that Moscow was behind the poisoning.
September 4, 2020 – A Russian toxicologist says Navalny's health could have deteriorated due to diet, stress or fatigue, insisting that no poison has been found in his body.
September 7, 2020 – German doctors say Navalny has emerged from an artificial coma.
September 11-13 – Russia holds local elections during which Navalny's allies make gains in Siberian cities.
September 14, 2020 – Laboratories in France and Sweden confirm Germany's findings that Navalny was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent. French President Emmanuel Macron urges Putin to shed light on the “attempted assassination,” but the Russian leader only moves to condemn the “baseless” accusations.
September 15, 2020 – Navalny posts a message on Instagram saying that he can breathe without help and appears with his wife Yulia and their two children, sitting on the bed looking emaciated.
September 17, 2020 – Navalny's aides say they discovered traces of Novichok in a bottle taken from the hotel in Siberia where he stayed before he fell ill.
September 21, 2020 – Navalny says Western laboratories have found traces of Novichok in and on his body and demands that Moscow return his clothes from the day he fell ill.
September 22, 2020 – Navalny is discharged from the hospital and doctors say “a full recovery is possible.” The Kremlin says Navalny can return to Moscow, while his spokeswoman says Russia froze his assets while he was in a coma.
October 1, 2020 – Navalny accuses Putin of being behind his poisoning and says he will not give the Russian president the pleasure of being in exile. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, accuses Navalny of working for the CIA and calls his claims “baseless and unacceptable.”
December 14, 2020 – Citing flight logs and mobile phone geolocation data, investigative website Bellingcat and Russian media outlet The Insider publish the results of a joint investigation into Navalny's alleged poisoning. In cooperation with Der Spiegel and CNN, and with the backing of Navalny, they claim to have identified a team of assassins from the Russian FSB security service who have pursued him for years. He names intelligence officers and poison labs who he says were behind the operation.
December 21, 2020 – Navalny releases a recording in which he appears to trick an FSB agent into confessing that he tried to kill him by putting poison in his underpants. The FSB denounces that the video of the phone call is “false.”
December 28, 2020 – The Russian prison service gives Navalny a last-minute ultimatum, telling him to return immediately from Germany and report to a Moscow office the next morning. The prison service warns Navalny that he will be jailed if he returns after the deadline. Navalny's spokeswoman claims it is impossible for him to return in time, adding that he is still convalescing after his poisoning and accuses the prison service of acting on orders from the Kremlin.
January 12, 2021 – Court documents reveal that a Russian judge has been asked to jail Navalny in absentia for, among other violations, allegedly violating the terms of a suspended sentence he had been serving.
January 13, 2021 – Navalny posts video on Instagram announcing plans to return to Russia. “It was never a question of whether to return or not. Simply because I never left. I ended up in Germany after arriving in an intensive care unit for a reason: they tried to kill me,” she says.
January 17, 2021 – Navalny flies to Russia from Germany. He is detained shortly after landing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. The arrest sparks condemnation from several European and world powers and a chorus of calls for his immediate release.
January 18, 2021 – A Russian judge is holding Navalny in custody for 30 days for violating the terms of his suspended prison sentence at a hastily arranged court hearing at a police station outside Moscow. Navalny urges Russians to take to the streets to protest after the decision. “Don't be afraid, go out into the streets. Don’t go out for me, go out for yourself and your future,” he said in a video posted on social media.
February 2, 2021 – A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve two and a half years in prison for violating his parole. While in prison, Navalny begins a three-week hunger strike to protest the lack of medical treatment and lack of sleep.
June 9, 2021 – A Moscow court declares Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and some 40 regional offices illegal as extremists, closing his political network. Close associates and team members face prosecution and leave Russia under pressure. Navalny maintains contact with his lawyers and his team from prison, and they update their social media accounts.
February 24, 2022 – Russia invades Ukraine. Navalny condemns the war in social media posts from prison and during his court appearances.
March 22, 2022 – Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine years for embezzlement and contempt of court in a case his supporters rejected as fabricated. He is transferred to a maximum security prison in the western region of Vladimir, Russia.
July 11, 2022 – Navalny's team announces the relaunch of the Anti-Corruption Foundation as an international organization with an advisory board. Navalny continues to file lawsuits in prison and attempts to form a union at the center. In response, prison officials begin periodically placing him in solitary confinement for alleged disciplinary violations, such as failing to properly button his clothing or washing his face at a set time.
January 11, 2023 – More than 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what they call Navalny's abuse, following reports that he was denied basic medications after contracting the flu. His team expresses concern for his health, saying in April that he had acute stomach pain and suspected he was being slowly poisoned.
March 12, 2023 – “Navalny,” a film about the attempt on the life of the opposition leader, wins the Oscar for best documentary feature.
April 26, 2023 – Appearing via videoconference from prison during a hearing, Navalny says he faced new charges of extremism and terrorism that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. He sarcastically adds that the charges imply that “I am carrying out terrorist attacks while in prison.”
June 19, 2023 – The trial begins in a makeshift room in Penal Colony No. 6 where Navalny is detained. Shortly after it begins, the judge closes the trial to the public and media despite Navalny's demand to keep it open.
July 20, 2023 – The prosecution, in its final arguments, asks the court to sentence Navalny to 20 years in prison, the politician's team reports. Navalny says in a later statement that he expects his sentence to be “huge… a Stalinist term,” referring to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
December 11, 2023 – Navalny's whereabouts are unknown, as officials at the penal colony where he is serving his sentence told one of his lawyers that he is no longer on the inmate list, his spokesperson says.
December 15, 2023 – Allies of the jailed Navalny say their lawyer was told in court that the leader was transferred from the penal colony east of Moscow, where he has been serving his sentence, but was not told where he was taken. The Kremlin says it “has no information.”
December 25, 2023 – Navalny's associates say they have located him in a penal colony above the Arctic Circle almost three weeks after contact with him was lost.
December 26, 2023 – Navalny releases a sardonic statement about his transfer to an Arctic penal colony nicknamed the “Polar Wolf,” his first appearance since his associates lost contact with him.
January 9, 2024 – Navalny says on social media that officials at the Arctic penal colony have isolated him in a small punishment cell for a minor infraction.
January 10, 2024 – A smiling and joking Navalny appears in court via video link from the Arctic penal colony, the first time the Russian opposition leader has appeared on camera since his move to the remote prison.
February 1, 2024 – In a statement on social media, Navalny urges Russians to show their protest against President Vladimir Putin during next month's presidential election by voting at a specific time on election day.
February 15, 2024 – Navalny was last seen in public when he appeared via video link at a court hearing. Jokingly, he asked the judge for part of that “enormous salary.”
February 16, 2024 – Navalny dies, state media report, citing the region's prison service.
