The two-hour film by Alexei Navalny and his team, “Palace for Putin. The Story of the Biggest Bribe”, has received 109 million views in two weeks. This is an absolute record among all the investigations of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). More importantly, this is a powerful blow that Navalny is inflicting on Vladimir Putin’s political economy.
A calculated blow of FBK
In this film, the publication date is just as important as the content. The video on Navalny’s channel appeared after the politician was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center. And at the beginning of the film, the oppositionist explains: it was originally planned to publish the investigation after Navalny’s return to Russia. A thoughtful and important step, if not decisive. Alexei Navalny once again demonstrates that he sets the rules from now on. It would seem: by the Kremlin’s will, the oppositionist was detained right at the border, immediately placed in a pre-trial detention center, contrary to all the norms of law, but even being in prison, he looks like a strong point.
Alexei Navalny’s investigation is not a story about Putin’s palace, but a real psychological portrait of the Russian president. Thorough, pedantic work with documents, archives, sources – there is nothing to complain about in the film: it makes a powerful impression with Vladimir Putin’s life story.
The film was a response to the critics of Navalny.
The film “Palace for Putin. The Story of the Biggest Bribe” can be regarded not only as a reaction of the head of the FBK and his employees to the poisoning of opposition politics. This is also an answer to many critics of Navalny, who was asked time and time again when he would make an investigation about Vladimir Putin. Traditionally, he replied that in all FBK investigations, one way or another they are talking about the President of Russia, and now everyone who asked questions has finally received an answer.
There is an investigation about Putin, and it contains an incredible amount of crucial information. Of course, many will note that it was known about the palace in Gelendzhik, but I disagree: I have never imagined such a thorough, detailed, and comprehensive work. Of course, one cannot discount Navalny’s unique ability to talk about captivatingly even about sometimes boring financial statements.
The first place in YouTube trends speaks for itself: no previous investigation has collected so many views. “We warn such people, especially given many views: think before transferring money to such really swindlers.” Alexei Navalny sets the agenda again, and the Kremlin is forced to answer.
How did Navalny survive last year?
On August 20, Alexei Navalny was urgently hospitalized in the Omsk hospital, then transported to Berlin, to the Charite clinic. German experts have established that he was poisoned with a Novichok-type poison.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny lost consciousness on August 20 on the plane he flew from Tomsk to Moscow. The liner urgently landed in Omsk. Navalny was hospitalized unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator. Companions of the oppositionist said that he was most likely poisoned. Omsk doctors have denied the poisoning.
On the morning of August 22, the politician in a drug-induced coma was delivered to Berlin. Doctors at the Charite clinic discovered signs of poisoning with a substance from a group of cholinesterase inhibitors. The German Chancellor and the German Foreign Minister called on Moscow to identify and prosecute those responsible for the poisoning. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo also demanded an independent investigation.
On September 2, a conclusion was made public by military toxicologists of the Bundeswehr special laboratory. The samples were taken from the Russian undoubtedly contained traces of a nerve agent of the Novichok family. German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel called Navalny’s poisoning “an attempt to murder one of Russia’s leading opposition politicians.”
Conclusion
On January 17, after undergoing a rehabilitation course, Navalny returned to his homeland, where he was immediately detained. The politician was accused of violating the conditions of a suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case and was arrested until February 15. That was when he shared his most groundbreaking analysis of the president of Russia. A few days ago, he was arrested for 2 years. And the West, especially the USA, demands from the Russian government to release him from prison. The madness still goes on, but who will win at the end? Is it still George Orwell’s 1984? Or is it even worse?