The text describes the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by a chemical weapon, Novichok, in August 2021. Navalny was supposed to die on the plane to Moscow, but survived. The poisoning was confirmed by an independent laboratory and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Navalny returned to Moscow in January 2022, after treatment, and was detained at the airport.
Protests in support of Navalny erupted across Russia, with hundreds of thousands of people demanding his release. Thousands were detained, fined, sent to special detention centers, or beaten. These protests were part of an unprecedented campaign against dissent launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The text paints a picture of a Russia where 20 million people live below the poverty line, where corruption is rampant among politicians and police, and where the future of the country is determined by a small group of people. It calls for a change in this system, urging listeners to choose the kind of Russia they want to live in and to take action to fight for it.
The text also describes the arrest and ongoing trial of Navalny, who is seen as a major threat to Putin's regime. It criticizes Putin's obsession with wealth and his unprincipled cruelty. The text concludes by calling for a large public rally to demand Navalny's release, describing this as the first step in fighting Putin's regime.
1. Alexei Navalny was poisoned by a group of killers on August 20 last year.
2. Navalny was treated with a chemical warfare agent known as novichok.
3. He was supposed to die on the plane on the way to Moscow, but survived.
4. The fact of poisoning with chemical weapons was confirmed by an independent laboratory and the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons.
5. Alexey Navalny returned to Moscow after treatment on January 17.
6. A person was detained at the airport and sent to a pre-trial detention center and then in prison.
7. On January 23 and 31, hundreds of thousands of people came out on the street in 180 cities of Russia, peacefully without weapons, with the only demand for the release of Alexei Navalny.
8. 12 thousand people were detained, fined, exiled to a special detention center, and subjected to beatings, house arrest.
9. Putin launched an unprecedented campaign against everyone who disagrees with him and dares to talk about it out loud.
10. Twenty-one years ago, power ended up in the hands of a random person, Vladimir Putin.
11. Putin has been described as obsessed with wealth to the degree of madness, a man who reinvented the concept of luxury and brought it to a level which cannot be comprehended by a normal person.
12. Putin has been described as unprincipledly cruel and ready to kill for all this; the result would be to bring the confrontation with Putin to the end.
13. Navalny was arrested for 30 days in Barnaul and doused with brilliant green.
14. The investigative committee of Russia opened a criminal case against Alexei Navalny.
15. Navalny is expected to spend two and a half years in a colony.
16. Navalny’s team is launching a big political campaign, demanding the release of Alexei Navalny.
17. The Putin regime is seen as the biggest problem by the team, and the demands should be one: freedom for Alexei Navalny.
18. Navalny's team plans to launch a large rally this spring, fundamentally another rally, no one has ever done something like this in the history of Russia.
19. Navalny's team is launching an information and preparation campaign and directly now they are talking about a date when the number of participants in the rally reaches at least half a million people.
20. Navalny's team plans to cope with their fear and uncertainty and, most importantly, help others cope, everyone who puts their point on the map will be able to see that he is not alone.