Patriot

Patriot (2024) is the posthumous memoir of Russian political activist Alexei Navalny. The book covers Navalny’s early life, as well as his work in politics. As an advocate for political reform in Russia and a critic of the corrupt government, he was targeted with poison and then sent to prison, where he eventually died in controversial circumstances. 

This guide refers to the 2024 Penguin Random House edition, translated into English from Russian by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death.

Summary

In Part 1, Alexei Navalny describes a near-death experience. During a routine morning flight, he was struck by a sudden sickness. At this time, he and his team were working tirelessly to expose corruption in Russia. They were targeting Vladimir Putin and other powerful figures, a campaign that had made them targets for Russian security services. Overwhelmed by his feeling of sickness mid-air, Navalny collapsed and believed that he was going to die. 

Navalny did not die. Instead, he woke up from a coma in Germany. He learned that he had been poisoned with a chemical, likely Novichok (which is closely associated with Russian political assassinations). Though he nearly died, Navalny was more interested in recent elections and his campaign to expose corruption. Recovering from the attack was a long and difficult process. Navalny was supported by his wife and children; he also received a visit from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In spite of the dangers, he was intent on returning to Russia as soon as possible.

In Part 2, Navalny shares memories from his childhood. He grew up in the late stages of the Soviet Union. His parents and many other adults were aware that the government was often lying to them. However, they felt powerless to change anything. Incidents like the Chernobyl nuclear disaster demonstrate—for Navalny—how the people became inured to the lies of the government. He compares this to modern Russia; Navalny is very patriotic and proud of Russia, yet he is a fierce critic of authoritarian governments in the past and present. Navalny reflects on the complicated legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev. While he represents the failure of the Soviet Union to many people, Navalny credits him for attempting to bring freedom to many people and for not engaging in corruption, even as many around him were doing exactly that. Navalny also shares a brief history of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the rise of Boris Yeltsin. At the time, he felt as though Russia was ready to embrace a new form of democracy, but he would later be proven wrong.

Navalny describes the education system in Russia in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse. During this time, many social institutions were collapsing and being replaced by criminal gangs. His parents valued education, so he attended university and studied law. Navalny made long journeys to and from university each day; he laments his lack of social experiences at the university. Many of the students paid their professors bribes for passing grades. Navalny interrupts his biographical memoir to reveal that, from this point on, he is writing everything from prison. 

He returned to Russia after his poisoning and, after a “Kafkaesque” experience with the border police, was arrested and thrown in jail. He then recounts the story of how he met his wife, Yulia Borisovna Navalnaya, at a vacation resort in Türkiye that is popular with Russians. They met, fell in love, married, and had children. Navalny credits Yulia’s support for everything he has achieved. Returning to his biography, Navalny explains how he became determined to resist the rise to power of Vladimir Putin in 1999. Lacking political experience, he joined the Yabloko party but eventually became disillusioned with their leadership. He was kicked out of the party, but this became the catalyst for Navalny realizing that he needed to start his own party if he were to properly oppose Putin.

Navalny began organizing public debates on political topics. Such events were unheard of and became very popular, but the censorious authorities soon shut them down. Craving a forum in which he could speak freely, Navalny turned to the internet. He launched a popular blog that exposed corruption in Russia. He bought shares in companies and confronted the corrupt executives at shareholder meetings in a fully legal manner. During the 2000s, Navalny accepted a position in the governorship of his friend Nikita Belykh in the Kirov region. Though he sought to combat corruption, Navalny found the problem to be much worse than he thought. He continued to publish his anti-corruption investigations while attending a fellowship program at Yale University. He then returned to Russia, in spite of the risk of arrest. He delved into politics and led a series of political movements. While the authorities ensured that Navalny was not able to actually win any elections, he succeeded in showing the public that there was a possibility of defeating the Kremlin via political means.

Recognizing the popularity of Navalny’s political movements, the Kremlin launched a series of flimsy legal cases against him. They also targeted his brother, Oleg. After one trial, Oleg was sentenced to years in a harsh prison. Though Navalny felt guilty, Oleg encouraged him to continue fighting corruption. The Kremlin also tried to block Navalny’s blog, prompting him to switch to video content. This was even more successful, and his media projects became increasingly professional. 

Using social media, Navalny launched a bid to become the Russian president. The announcement was recorded in secret, and he immediately raised a vast sum from small donors. He campaigned across Russia, though he was often harassed by the authorities. Despite his vast support, the authorities disqualified Navalny from running. Navalny changed tactics and called for tactical voting measures. He was increasingly harassed by the police during this time. Though he was afraid for his family and aware that other political activists had been killed, Navalny was determined to fight for political reform in Russia. 

Navalny returns to the story of how he was poisoned with Novichok in August 2020, underscoring the personal risk he faced by opposing the government of Vladimir Putin. In spite of his near-death experience, he was determined to return to Russia because he felt a responsibility to the Russian voters.

Part 4 begins with a short introduction: Navalny’s imprisonment began in January 2021 after a court in Russia sentenced him to three and a half years in prison for violating parole. In February 2024, he was killed in prison. As such, the rest of the book is composed of his diary entries and social media posts. 

From 2021 to 2024, Navalny refuses to cede his optimism for a change in the political regime in Russia. His faith, his family, and his political beliefs assure him that he is doing the right thing, even though he is often frustrated by the absurdities of the legal system and the brutality of the prison system. At one stage, he embarks on a hunger strike and seriously endangers his health to protest what is happening to him. Even after the hunger strike ends, the care he receives is almost actively harmful. 

Over the course of the years, Navalny is moved around a series of prisons. The conditions in these prisons become increasingly brutal as he is subjected to increasingly worse treatment. The entries become increasingly sporadic as he is denied opportunities to share his thoughts with the world. After the diary entries stop (due to his death), a short but optimistic Epilogue from 2022 finishes the book.