Navalny and his team work in Siberia targeting regional elections and exposing corruption through YouTube videos.

Navalny suddenly falls gravely ill during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow.

Navalny wakes from a coma in a German hospital, unable to speak or move properly.

Navalny learns he was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent linked to Russian state operatives.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Navalny in hospital and discusses Russian politics with him.

Navalny joins the Yabloko party after deciding to resist Vladimir Putin's rise to power.

Navalny is expelled from Yabloko after publicly criticizing the party's leadership style and strategy.

Navalny launches a popular blog on LiveJournal that exposes corruption among Russian government officials.

Navalny founds the Anti-Corruption Foundation, unifying his crowdfunded investigative projects under one organization.

United Russia rigs the Duma elections, triggering mass street protests across Russia.

Navalny runs for Moscow mayor and secures 27.2% of the vote despite heavy state interference.

Russia's Central Electoral Commission disqualifies Navalny from running in the presidential election.

Navalny boards a flight from Berlin to Moscow, prepared to face arrest upon arrival.

Navalny is arrested at passport control and sentenced to pretrial custody at Matrosskaya Tishina prison.

Navalny dies in prison under undisclosed circumstances after years of escalating mistreatment.

Patriot opens with Navalny's work exposing corruption in Russia and a sudden, life-threatening poisoning during a flight. He wakes from a coma in Germany, recovers with support from his wife and world leaders like Angela Merkel, and remains determined to continue his fight. The narrative traces his political journey through joining and being expelled from the Yabloko party, launching an Anti-Corruption Foundation, and building a massive public following online. Navalny contests elections and is systematically blocked by the Kremlin, eventually being disqualified from the presidential race entirely. Despite knowing he faces arrest, he returns to Russia and is immediately imprisoned in a process that exposes the authoritarian nature of Putin's government. He ultimately dies in prison, having never abandoned his campaign for democratic reform.

The headline events of Navalny's life and political career.

Navalny's family sees soldiers monitoring cars with radiation detectors near their home after the Chernobyl explosion.

Navalny grows up overhearing his parents criticize the Soviet government during private kitchen-table conversations.

Military tanks move through Navalny's town during the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev.

Boris Yeltsin climbs atop a tank outside the Russian parliament to rally public resistance against the coup plotters.

Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus sign the Belovezha Accords, formally dissolving the Soviet Union.

Navalny encounters rampant bribery at a customs office and loses faith in Yeltsin's democratic reforms.

Navalny meets Yulia during a corporate trip to Türkiye and instantly resolves to marry her.

Navalny organizes popular public political debates that authorities soon disrupt and force shut down.

Navalny buys shares in state-owned companies to legally challenge corrupt executives at shareholder meetings.

Navalny joins Governor Nikita Belykh's administration in the Kirov region as an unpaid anti-corruption adviser.

Navalny exposes a massive embezzlement scheme at state-owned pipeline company Transneft, and the findings go viral.

Roskomnadzor blocks Navalny's LiveJournal blog just before Putin's Crimea referendum.

Navalny's brother Oleg is sentenced to years in a harsh prison as authorities target Alexei through his family.

Navalny's team produces a viral YouTube exposé on Prosecutor General Chaika's ties to organized crime.

Navalny is transferred without notice to a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle.

This pool traces the historical and personal context behind Navalny's activism, beginning with his Soviet childhood marked by the Chernobyl disaster and adults quietly questioning their government. It covers seismic events including the failed coup against Gorbachev and the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, which shaped the political landscape Navalny would later fight to reform. Personal milestones include meeting his future wife Yulia and growing disillusioned with Yeltsin's corrupt reforms after a revelatory encounter at a customs office. His activism escalates from organizing public debates to buying company shares and uncovering massive embezzlement schemes, producing investigations that go viral. The Kremlin retaliates by imprisoning his brother Oleg and blocking his media platforms, forcing him into constant adaptation. The pool ends with Navalny's transfer to an Arctic Circle prison, signaling the regime's determination to silence him completely.

The supporting events that shaped Navalny and Russia's modern history.

Navalny painstakingly relearns basic movements and speech during rehabilitation after emerging from his coma.

Navalny's children Dasha and Zakhar visit him in the hospital, filling him with joy during recovery.

Navalny credits Gorbachev as uniquely incorruptible, noting he refused to personally enrich himself during the Soviet collapse.

Navalny stands up to a school bully after months of extortion, reinforcing his belief in confronting oppression.

Navalny fails to enter Moscow State University due to systemic bias favoring elites and enrolls elsewhere.

Navalny interrupts his memoir to reveal he is now writing everything from inside a prison cell.

Navalny converts to Christianity while beginning his career in opposition politics.

Navalny launches Russia's first large-scale crowdfunding campaign, collecting micro-donations from thousands of ordinary citizens.

Navalny's label 'party of crooks and thieves' for United Russia spreads virally, reshaping public political discourse.

Navalny discovers that YouTube videos reach millions more viewers than written blog articles and shifts his strategy.

Navalny secretly records his presidential candidacy announcement and raises millions in small donations within a single day.

Navalny's exposé on Prime Minister Medvedev's secret luxury properties triggers nationwide protests in over 100 cities.

Navalny launches a hunger strike in prison to protest the denial of adequate medical care.

Navalny confides to Yulia during a prison visit that he may never be released and could die in custody.

Navalny's final prison entry expresses enduring optimism about Russia's democratic future before his posts go silent.

This pool focuses on the pivotal moments that changed the course of Navalny's life and activism, beginning with his difficult physical recovery from poisoning and an emotional reunion with his children in the hospital. Formative experiences in youth, including confronting a school bully and being denied entry to Moscow's top university, shaped the defiant character that would fuel his political career. His mid-memoir revelation that he is writing from inside a prison cell signals a fundamental shift in the narrative's scope and stakes. Strategic breakthroughs, including launching Russia's first crowdfunding campaign and discovering the power of YouTube, transformed his reach and influence far beyond what the state could easily suppress. His viral exposé on Prime Minister Medvedev and his secretly announced presidential run represent the peak of his public challenge to Putin's regime. The pool closes with his hunger strike, a candid prison conversation with Yulia about the possibility of his death, and his final optimistic entry before his posts go permanently silent.

The key decisions, discoveries, and emotional shifts that defined Navalny's journey.