Alexei Navalny says time Putin ‘tried to kill him’ was like being in Harry Potter

Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny said the time he was poisoned with a deadly substance was like being in Harry Potter.

Navalny, who died in a jail north of the Arctic Circle in February this year, said the poisoning was like being in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. “When I am asked what it’s like to die from a chemical weapon, two associations come to mind: the Dementors in Harry Potter and the Nazgûl in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings,” he wrote in his posthumous memoir published in October.

“The kiss of a Dementor does not hurt: the victim just feels life leaving. The main weapon of the Nazgûl is their terrifying ability to make you lose your will and strength.”

Navalny was poisoned during a business trip in 2020. He and some Western officials blamed this on Putin due to Navalny’s public opposition to him. Russian denied being involved.

Lawyer Navalny founded the Navalny founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation in 2011 in Russia before announcing a run for president in 2016. His candidacy was banned in 2018.

Following his recovery from the poisoning, Navalny returned to Russia in 2020, but his opposition to Putin and the Kremlin saw him promptly arrested. Russian authorities had slapped combined 30 and a half year prison sentence on him before he died in jail in February this year.

The Russian Investigative Committee that investigated Navalny’s death said he died from “combined illnesses” and that his death was not criminal. In September, documents obtained by The Insider suggested references to sharp abdominal pains, vomiting and losses of consciousness experienced by Navalny were removed from the report.

In April, US intelligence agencies had said it was likely that Putin did not directly order Navalny’s death at the penal colony he was jailed in, according to the Wall Street Journal.

President Joe Biden said details were unclear, but that “there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did”. Russia denied killing Navalny.

In his memoir released last month, Navalny slammed Mad Vlad and his barbaric war in Ukraine. “Because of Putin, hundreds now, and in the future tens of thousands, of Ukrainians and Russian citizens will die. Yes, he will stop Ukraine from developing, he will drag it into the swamp, but Russia too will pay a high price,” he wrote.

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