In New York: According to his posthumous memoir, which will be published on October 22, Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent political opponent prior to his death in February, believed that he would die in prison.
A portion of the book was published in the New Yorker, and it included writing from Navalny’s prison diary and earlier. On March 22, 2022, he wrote, “I will spend the rest of my life in prison and die here.”
“There won’t be anyone to say goodbye to… Every anniversary will be celebrated without me.” I won’t ever see my grandkids.” On charges of “extremism,” Navalny had been imprisoned for 19 years in an Arctic penal colony.
Many blamed Putin for his death on February 16 at the age of 47, which drew widespread condemnation. After suffering a significant health issue as a result of being poisoned in 2020, Navalny was detained in January 2021 while returning to Russia.
On January 17, 2022, he wrote, “The only thing we should fear is that we will surrender our homeland to be plundered by a gang of liars, thieves, and hypocrites.”
According to additional extracts that were published in the London Times, the diary reveals the punishing toll that the prison regime and his hunger strike took on his body.
I feel crushed today. We visited the bathroom. I couldn’t stand to stand in the hot shower. My legs collapsed. I am powerless now that it is evening. In one of his entries, he wrote, “I just want to lie down, and for the first time I’m feeling emotionally and morally down.”
