He is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most determined and outspoken opponent. He was nearly poisoned to death in August 2020 in Siberia and is now in a high-security prison. Is there any real opposition left in Russia? What do we know about the poisoning? And who really is Alexei Navalny – a social media star, a hero to some, a racist nationalist to others and an agent of the West according to Russian authorities? Why have his anti-corruption investigations touched such a nerve? And do we have anything to fear from Russia? The answers are to be found in this series produced by four AFP journalists based in Moscow and Paris, based on exclusive first-hand accounts and interviews from Agnes Callamard, the former UN rapporteur on the poisoning; Piotr Tolstoy, the deputy chairman of Russia’s lower house; Vladimir Kara-Murza, a poisoned opposition figure; and many activists and experts.

Credits

Authors: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano in Moscow, Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers in Paris. Hosts: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano. Editing : Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers. Translations: Vassily Koloskov. Music: Clemence Reliat and Nicolas Vair. Illustration: David Lory. Mixing: Christophe Robert. Communication: Amir Ajkic, Boris Bachorz, Coline Sallois. Marketing: Eleonora Gallerani, Laurent Nicolas. Editors in Chief : Michaela Cancela-Kieffer, Michael Mainville, Antoine Lambroschini.

The Poisoning
A podcast produced by AFPTV audio team">AFPTV audio team
 

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Alexei Navalny’s new home is around 100 kilometres from Moscow, at the end of a muddy path, on the outskirts of the small town of Pokrov. A year after his poisoning, the main opponent to Vladimir Putin lives in a high-security prison. His anti-corruption foundation is banned. Many of his allies are in exile, independent media are closing down and a ‘climate of fear’ reigns among his supporters.

With interviews of  Konstantin Kotov, former prisoner and opponent; Ivan Pavlov, lawyer for the Navalny Foundation; Ekaterina Schulmann, political scientist; Piotr Tolstoy, vice-president of the State Duma;  Armen Aramyan, journalist at student paper Doxa in Moscow.

Credits

Authors: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano in Moscow, Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers in Paris. Hosts: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano. Editing : Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers. Translations: Vassily Koloskov. Music: Clemence Reliat and Nicolas Vair. Illustration: David Lory. Mixing: Christophe Robert. Communication: Amir Ajkic, Boris Bachorz, Coline Sallois. Marketing: Eleonora Gallerani, Laurent Nicolas. Editors in Chief : Michaela Cancela-Kieffer, Michael Mainville, Antoine Lambroschini.

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We retrace Alexei Navalny’s steps in Siberia during the last moments of his ‘previous’ life, in the city of Tomsk where he was poisoned. A few hours later, he would feel what he described as ‘the kiss of death’. ‘It was terrifying. I started to feel that I couldn’t breathe anymore,’ recounts Vladimir Kara-Murza, another opposition figure who was poisoned. Who poisoned Alexei Navalny? Agnes Callamard, the former UN rapporteur on the poisoning, has little doubt…
 

With interviews of  Vladimir Kara-Murza, opposition member twice poisoned; Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International Secretary General and former UN rapporteur on the poisoning; Ksenya Fadeeva, local official who saw Navalny the day before he was poisoned; Sergei Lavrov (archives), foreign minister; Aric Toler, member of the Bellingcat investigation team; Theresa May (archives); Vladimir Putin (archives); Alexei Navalny (archives) 

Credits

Authors: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano in Moscow, Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers in Paris. Hosts: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano. Editing : Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers. Translations: Vassily Koloskov. Music: Clemence Reliat and Nicolas Vair. Illustration: David Lory. Mixing: Christophe Robert. Communication: Amir Ajkic, Boris Bachorz, Coline Sallois. Marketing: Eleonora Gallerani, Laurent Nicolas. Editors in Chief : Michaela Cancela-Kieffer, Michael Mainville, Antoine Lambroschini.

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Episode #3 “Hi, it’s Navalny”

AFP was on the plane on January 17 when Alexei Navalny returned to Russia despite the near certainty of imprisonment. Who is this seemingly fearless man, a social media star with a sardonic sense of humour? Friends, experts and his critics answer the question, with some pointing to a ‘‘nationalist’, even ‘racist’ past. But more than anything, Navalny has become a thorn in the side of a Russian elite whose alleged corruption he has worked to expose.
 

With interviews of Nikolai Khorzov, AFP video journalist; Sergei Guriev, economics professor at Sciences Po university; Evgeny Feldman, photographer; Darya Navalnaya (Instagram archive); Maria Lipman, political analyst, George Washington University;

Valery Fiodorov, director of the Russian polling institute Vtsiom; Piotr Tolstoy, vice-president of the State Duma; Alexei Navalny (archives)

Credits

Authors: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano in Moscow, Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers in Paris. Hosts: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano. Editing : Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers. Translations: Vassily Koloskov. Music: Clemence Reliat and Nicolas Vair. Illustration: David Lory. Mixing: Christophe Robert. Communication: Amir Ajkic, Boris Bachorz, Coline Sallois. Marketing: Eleonora Gallerani, Laurent Nicolas. Editors in Chief : Michaela Cancela-Kieffer, Michael Mainville, Antoine Lambroschini. Copyright soundbite Navalny during a rally: Ilya Kondratov.  

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He is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most determined and outspoken opponent. He was nearly poisoned to death in 2020. Today, Alexei Navalny is in prison and Russia has changed a great deal. A five-part AFP podcast series.  

Episode #4 "The Palace"

Could Navalny’s obsession weaken his big opponent Vladimir Putin? His organization has ceaselessly exposed corruption in Russia with skillful use of social media and, just after his arrest, it struck a powerful blow, publishing a long documentary about a sumptuous Black Sea residence. According to the organization, this was at the president’s disposal. Then, tens of thousands of people hit the streets from Moscow to Yakutsk in Siberia with temperatures at -50C. People in more than 110 cities followed Alexei Navalny’s call to protest.

Sources 

Alexei Navalny, on « Putin’s Palace » (YouTube) 

Vladimir Putin, reaction to the allegations (archives)   

Maria Lipman, political scientist

Clementine Fauconnier, professor and Russia specialist at the University of Upper Alsace

Piotr Tolstoy, vice-president of the Duma

Sergei Guriev, exiled economics professor at Sciences Po university

Vladimir Milov, former deputy energy minister, member of the Navalny Fondation, exiled

Archives from protests

Credits

Authors: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano in Moscow, Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers in Paris. Hosts: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano. Editing : Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers. Translations: Vassily Koloskov. Music: Clemence Reliat and Nicolas Vair. Illustration: David Lory. Mixing: Christophe Robert. Communication: Amir Ajkic, Boris Bachorz, Coline Sallois. Marketing: Eleonora Gallerani, Laurent Nicolas. Editors in Chief : Michaela Cancela-Kieffer, Michael Mainville, Antoine Lambroschini.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most determined and outspoken opponent. He was nearly poisoned to death in 2020. Today, Alexei Navalny is in prison and Russia has changed a great deal. A five-part AFP podcast series.  

Episode #5 Exile

We fly to Lithuania, which has become a refuge for Russian opposition figures in exile because of repression in their own country. From there they try to convince Russians and the world to take action against President Vladimir Putin’s government. In Siberia, other Kremlin critics see themselves as in a form of internal exile. As European leaders struggle over how to deal with Russia, mixing sanctions with dialogue, we ask: What does the future hold for Russia, and for its opposition?

Sources 

Vladimir Milov, Russian opposition politician who has worked with Alexei Navalny;

Pyotr Tolstoy, vice-president of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament; Vladimir Kara-Murza, opposition politician;  Danute Gailiene, professor of psychology at the University of Vilnius ; Jacques Maire, member of French parliament and of President Emmanuel Macron’s “En Marche!” party.  Viktor Muchnik, chief editor of independent Russian media outlet TV2 in Tomsk. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, exiled Russian businessman and opposition figure. Ekaterina Schulmann, political scientist specializing in Russia  Archives : Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel

Credits

Authors: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano in Moscow, Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers in Paris. Hosts: Jonathan Brown and Andrea Palasciano. Editing : Antoine Boyer and Sarah-Lou Lepers. Translations: Vassily Koloskov. In Vilnius : Vaidotas Beniusus, Saulius Jakučionis. Music: Clemence Reliat and Nicolas Vair. Illustration: David Lory. Mixing: Christophe Robert. Communication: Amir Ajkic, Boris Bachorz, Coline Sallois. Marketing: Eleonora Gallerani, Laurent Nicolas. Editors in Chief : Michaela Cancela-Kieffer, Michael Mainville, Antoine Lambroschini.

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