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How an anticorruption crusader rose to become Russia's most prominent Kremlin opponent.
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2000:
After working a range of jobs related to financial consulting and opening a handful of his own firms, Navalny, a lawyer by training, joins the liberal Yabloko party in 2000.
President Vladimir Putin begins his first year in office.
RISE OF A REBEL ALEKSEI NAVALNY
START TIMELINE
2000:
After working a range of jobs related to financial consulting and opening a handful of his own firms, Navalny, a lawyer by training, joins the liberal Yabloko party in 2000.
President Vladimir Putin begins his first year in office.
December 2003:
The Yabloko party loses all its seats in parliament.
April 2006:
Navalny starts his blog on LiveJournal. The platform becomes an increasingly prominent forum for political discussion in Russia.
Participates in the ultranationalist Russian March protest in Moscow, though he urges authorities to crack down on “any fascist, Nazi, or xenophobic actions” at the event.
April 2006:
Navalny starts his blog on LiveJournal. The platform becomes an increasingly prominent forum for political discussion in Russia.
Participates in the ultranationalist Russian March protest in Moscow, though he urges authorities to crack down on “any fascist, Nazi, or xenophobic actions” at the event.
2007:
Navalny is kicked out of Yabloko for what the party calls “nationalist activities.” He claims he was expelled for calling on Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky
to step down.
2008:
Purchases small stakes in two state-owned Russian energy giants, the oil company Rosneft and natural-gas major Gazprom.
Engages in minority-shareholder activism, badgering executives at Rosneft and Gazprom shareholders’ meetings and publishing investigations about corruption and waste on his blog.
August 2008:
Files lawsuits against the Rosneft oil company and the state-owned oil pipeline firm Transneft, seeking information about business practices he believes are rife with corruption. Both lawsuits are rejected.
November 2009:
Navalny publishes an investigation alleging that a subsidiary of state-owned lender VTB overpaid more than $150 million for Chinese oil rigs in what he calls a money-laundering scheme. VTB denies the charge.
Becomes an unpaid adviser to Kirov Oblast Governor Nikita Belykh, a prominent liberal politician. Navalny's time in Kirov would eventually lead to his conviction on fraud and embezzlement charges.
Navalny’s corporate activism prompts the prominent Russian business daily Vedomosti to name him "Private Individual Of The Year" for 2009. The newspaper praises him for setting a "personal example proving it's possible for citizens to defend their rights."
November 2009:
Navalny publishes an investigation alleging that a subsidiary of state-owned lender VTB overpaid more than $150 million for Chinese oil rigs in what he calls a money-laundering scheme. VTB denies the charge.
Becomes an unpaid adviser to Kirov Oblast Governor Nikita Belykh, a prominent liberal politician. Navalny's time in Kirov would eventually lead to his conviction on fraud and embezzlement charges.
Navalny’s corporate activism prompts the prominent Russian business daily Vedomosti to name him "Private Individual Of The Year" for 2009. The newspaper praises him for setting a "personal example proving it's possible for citizens to defend their rights."
2011:
After completing a yearlong fellowship at Yale University in Connecticut, Navalny returns to Russia and becomes a leading face of mass antigovernment street protests over the December parliamentary elections and the March 2012 presidential election that returned Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin for a third term.
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July 2012:
Navalny is charged with organizing the theft of funds from a state timber firm and ordered not to leave Moscow. Navalny and his supporters call the allegations retribution for his political activism.
Reuters
2013:
Navalny publishes investigations about two federal lawmakers -- Vladimir Pekhtin and Vitaly Malkin -- about pricey North American real estate held by the two, and about Malkin’s Israeli citizenship. Both officials subsequently step down. .
June:
Navalny announces that he will challenge Kremlin-backed incumbent Sergei Sobyanin in the Moscow mayoral election to be held in September.
July:
A Kirov court convicts Navalny of stealing and illegally selling $500,000 of lumber from the Kirovles timber company and is sentenced to five years in prison. The court unexpectedly releases him on bail pending his appeal of the conviction, allowing him to run in the Moscow mayoral election.
September:
Navalny finishes second in the Moscow mayoral race, capturing 27 percent of the vote. Sobyanin wins with 51 percent of the vote, according to the official tally.
October:
A Kirov court upholds Navalny’s earlier conviction and hands him a five-year suspended sentence. Weeks later, Russia’s top investigative body files new theft and money-laundering charges against him and his brother, Oleg.
December 2014:
Navalny is convicted of theft and money-laundering charges and handed a 3 1/2 year suspended sentence. His brother, Oleg, is convicted in the same trial and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. Navalny accuses the government of retaliating against his political activities by holding his brother hostage.
While serving out his suspended sentence, Navalny continues to publish high-profile investigations of Russia’s political and business elite. His targets include Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
December 2014:
Navalny (left) is convicted of theft and money-laundering charges and handed a 3 1/2 year suspended sentence. His brother, Oleg (right), is convicted in the same trial and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. Navalny accuses the government of retaliating against his political activities by holding his brother hostage.
While serving out his suspended sentence, Navalny continues to publish high-profile investigations of Russia’s political and business elite. His targets include Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
February 2016:
The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules that Russia violated Navalny's right to a fair trial in the Kirovles case and ordered the government to pay him 80,000 euros ($89,500) in legal costs and damages. The ECHR later rejects Russia’s appeal of the decision.
November:
Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s 2013 theft conviction in the Kirovles case and orders a retrial. Prosecutors sought to uphold the conviction, while Navalny asked that it be thrown out with no retrial.
December:
Navalny announces that he will run for president in an election due to be held in March 2018.
February 2016:
The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules that Russia violated Navalny's right to a fair trial in the Kirovles case and ordered the government to pay him 80,000 euros ($89,500) in legal costs and damages. The ECHR later rejects Russia’s appeal of the decision.
November:
Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s 2013 theft conviction in the Kirovles case and orders a retrial. Prosecutors sought to uphold the conviction, while Navalny asked that it be thrown out with no retrial.
December:
Navalny announces that he will run for president in an election due to be held in March 2018.
February 2017:
Navalny denounces “Putin’s gang” in his final statement in the retrial of the Kirovles case. Prosecutors earlier asked the judge in Kirov to convict Navalny and hand him a five-year suspended sentence. Navalny says authorities are trying to bar him from running for president.
February 8:
Navalny is found guilty by a Kirov court in his retrial on charges of embezzling from the state-controlled forestry company Kirovles, with the judge saying the activist had "organized the commission of a crime." The conviction, if upheld, would mean that Navalny would be ineligible to run for the presidency in March 2018, or any other public office. Navalny has said he plans to appeal.
Kirov court sentences Navalny to a five-year suspended sentence and fines him 500,000 rubles.
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By Carl Schreck
How an anticorruption crusader rose to become Russia's most prominent Kremlin opponent.