Navalny Poisoned With Novichok, Then Imprisoned

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny fell critically ill on a domestic flight in Russia in August 2020 and was evacuated to Germany, where doctors and an independent OPCW analysis confirmed he had been poisoned with Novichok — the same nerve agent family used in Salisbury. Investigative outlet Bellingcat, working with CNN and Der Spiegel, identified specific FSB officers who had tracked Navalny for years and were present in the city where he was poisoned. On returning to Russia in January 2021, Navalny was immediately arrested and later sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges widely regarded internationally as politically motivated; he died in a remote Arctic penal colony in February 2024 under circumstances Russia has never adequately explained.