(NewsSpace.com) – Alexei Navalny, an outspoken activist against Vladimir Putin’s regime, died in prison in February. He was a prominent figure in Russian politics as an opposition leader who dared challenge the current president. However, in the years before his death, he detailed his life and work in a memoir soon to hit bookstores.
Navalny is mostly known for his fierce opposition to Putin, whom he claims tried to silence him repeatedly, through multiple means, including poisoning, arrests, and prison time. The activist was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020, which prompted him to begin writing his memoir. The West believes it was a state-sponsored assassination attempt.
The memoir, titled “Patriot,” is told in Navalny’s own words. His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, is working with publishers to finalize the book. In the US, there will be a printing of half a million copies, which will be available for purchase on October 22.
The story, which was written mostly while he was in Germany recovering from the poisoning attempt, follows his life through childhood up until his time in the Arctic penal colony, where he ultimately died. He speaks of his youth, how he rose to become a political activist in a country where it was dangerous to do so, and his political career. Readers will learn about his family as well as the attempts on his life. They will also get an inside look at never-before-seen correspondence from inside the prison where he died.
Many questioned why he returned to Russia after healing, especially since he was detained right away at the airport upon landing. In a Facebook post a month before his death, he explained that he wanted to return home because he didn’t “want to give up either [his] country or [his] beliefs.” To do so, he said, would be a betrayal. His arrest after he returned home was loudly protested in the country. His death led to the same.
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