Follows the man who survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020. During his months-long recovery he makes shocking discoveries about the attempt on his life and decides to return home.
Centers on events around the August 2020 assassination attempt on former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by poisoning, the domestic flight he on from Siberia to Moscow needing to make an emergency landing upon he falling ill aboard. He was ultimately transferred from a Russian hospital to Germany both for further fear for his life if left in Russia without protection, and that any evidence of the poisoning being destroyed by the state in the initial and continuing suspicions that the attempt was either backed or directed by the Kremlin under President Vladimir Putin which they/he have always denied, Putin who even refuses to utter Navalny's name when questioned about him or the attempt. After the fact, Navalny states his surprise in believing that he was safer from such state attempts to kill him the more recognition he gained i.e. being too recognizable a figure. Beyond his staff and his loyal family, he ends up being secretly surrounded by a small group of investigative journalists including Bulgarian Christo Grozev with Bellingcat and Russian Maria Pevchikh with the Anti-Corruption Foundation who knew that the state would not investigate the poisoning. What to do with their findings culminates with Navalny's highly publicized return to Moscow on January 17, 2021 and how to take advantage of that return to release their findings to have the greatest impact.—Huggo
On August 20, 2020, a military-grade nerve agent poisoned Russian opposition leader and former presidential candidate Alexei Navalny. During his five-month-long convalescence at the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, Navalny makes shocking discoveries about the botched attempt on his life--an act of extreme political violence most likely commissioned by the Russian authorities. With the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin denying the allegations, a team of investigative journalists, Bellingcat's Christo Grozev and Anti-Corruption Foundation's Maria Pevchikh, try to shed light on the knotty case, risking everything. Already designated as an extremist, Alexei drops a bombshell: the Kremlin critic is determined to return to his motherland despite the state-ordered attack. His risky decision led to Navalny's detention at Moscow airport after returning from Germany on January 17, 2021. The documentary follows Alexei Navalny through his swift political rise, attempted assassination, and diligent search to uncover the truth.—Nick Riganas
This Oscar-winning documentary follows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as he and his team unravel a plot to poison him with deadly nerve agent novichok. In August 2020, a plane travelling from Siberia to Moscow made an emergency landing. Alexei Navalny was deathly ill. He was taken to a local Siberian hospital and eventually evacuated to Berlin. Doctors there confirmed that he had been poisoned with 'novichok', a nerve agent implicated in attacks on other opponents of the Russian government. President Vladimir Putin immediately cast doubt on the findings and denied any involvement. While Navalny is recovering, he and his team uncover the plot against him, finding evidence of the Kremlin's involvement, and prepare to go public with their findings.—'BBC'
