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MOSCOW, RUSSIA - A massive mansion emerges high up on a cliff surrounded by greenery. The coastline runs along the back end of the palace and beneath the cliffs, waves are crashing against the shore as the frame pans over beige walls and enclosed fences. The architecture of the enormous structure mirrors that of medieval times, with a courtyard in the center of an enclosed square. This is the palace that Alexei Navalny alleges belongs to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
In a two hour-long video, released by Alexei Navalny’s associates while he was detained in Moscow, they allege the $1.3 billion palace along the Black Sea was funded by a clever and elaborate corruption scheme. Navalny is currently awaiting sentencing, as he was detained by Russian authorities upon his arrival to Moscow from Germany on Sunday the 17th of January. This is following an attempt on his life, in which he was exposed to a Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent on a flight over Siberia on August 20th 2020.
Navalny is an opposition leader and political activist known for taking a stand against corruption, Putin's government, and fighting to “destroy the feudal state that’s being built in Russia, destroy the system of government where 83% of national wealth is owned by a half percent of the population.” He has been jailed multiple times in the past for protesting, and on some accounts of embezzlement. Some of these charges he claims were simply used by the government to prevent him from partaking in the 2018 Russian elections. He has called for protests in the past against the standing Russian government and has spoken out about Putin.
Alexei claims that the nerve agent attack was indeed ordered by Vladamir Putin. After some reports conducted by investigative group Bellingcat, it was alleged that operatives from Russia’s FSB domestic security agency had followed Navalny during his trips since 2017. These operatives were trained in chemical weapons, chemistry and medicine.
Navalny then went on to release a recording of a phone call between him and one of the alleged operatives at the end of December. The operative says he was in charge of processing Navalny’s clothes so that there “wouldn’t be any traces” after the nerve agent attack. Although many people claim that the recording was fake, the clothes Navalny was wearing when he was hospitalized for the coma still haven’t been returned to him.
Navalny's current detainment is said to last until Feb. 15, pending another hearing on charges of violating the terms of a three-and-a-half-year suspended prison sentence received in 2014. Europe’s top human rights court said Navalny was unfairly convicted of financial crimes in that case. The court plans to petition to turn his suspended prison sentence into real jail time that could ultimately keep him in prison until 2024 if approved.
The release of the video emphasizes that Navalny and his supporters are organized and united even five months after the near fatal nerve agent poisoning he suffered. The video is a direct attack on Putin, and even suggests that he has a love child, publicly implying he is the father of Elizaveta Krivonogikh. These claims have been denied by Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, although he did not disclose who the palace actually belongs to.
Political analyst Tatiana Stonavaya of R. Politik analytical firm says Navalny is seen as an enemy of the state by Kremlin securocrats, that and bringing him down is seen as a “matter of honor” by the Russian FSB. This worries many of his supporters like Leonid Volkov, head of Navalny’s network of offices, who fears for the dissident's life. Navalny remains awaiting his next trial in a high maximum security prison in Moscow, while his supporters plan to gather on Saturday the 23rd of January.
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