Alexei Navalny was convinced that his fate was sealed and that he would die in prison, according to excerpts from his memoirs published by The New Yorker before the launch of the book “Patriota”, scheduled for October 22. In his diary, the Russian opposition leader wrote on March 22, 2022: “I will spend the rest of my days in prison and die here.” Additionally, he detailed how loneliness and isolation would mark his final days, reflecting on not being able to say goodbye to his loved ones or participate in family events.
Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most fervent critics and known for his fight against corruption, was jailed in 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from neurotoxin poisoning, which he blamed on the Kremlin. In February 2024, at age 47, he died in an Arctic prison, serving a 19-year sentence on “extremism” charges that he always considered politically motivated (Clarion).
«There will be no one to say goodbye to (…) All birthdays will be celebrated without me. I will never see my grandchildren. I will not be the subject of any family stories. “I won’t be in any photographs,” he added in that diary entry.
In his writings, Navalny wryly describes what his routine was like in prison, working seven hours a day at a sewing machine and spending time sitting under a portrait of Putin, what he called “disciplinary activity.” Despite the harsh reality of his imprisonment, he never lost his sense of humor and, as he points out Clarioneven joked about gambling with his lawyers about the length of his sentence.
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