Tragic Navalny was meant to be freed in huge prisoner swap until his death in Russian hands threatened to derail mission

Here is a look at the life of the opposition leader who went from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin’s biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison.

June 4, 1976 — Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region

1997 — Graduates from Russia’s RUDN university, where he majored in law

2004 — Forms a movement against rampant over-development in Moscow

2008 — Gains notoriety for calling out corruption in state-run corporation

December 2011 — Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russia’s election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official”

March 2012 – Further mass protests break out and Navalny accuses key Kremlin cronies of corruption

July 2012 — Russia’s Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement. He rejects the claims and says they are politically motivated

2013 — Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow

July 2013 — A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison – he appeals and is allowed to continue campaign

September 2013 — Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayor’s race

February 2014 — Navalny is placed under house arrest 

December 2014 — Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud 

February 2016 — The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial

November 2016 — Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s sentence

December 2016 — Navalny announces he will run in Russia’s 2018 presidential election

February 2017 — The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013

April 2017 – Survives an assassination attempt he blames on Kremlin

December 2017 — Russia’s Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president 

August, 2020 – Navalny falls into a coma on a flight and his team suspects he was poisoned. German authorities confirm he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent.

Jan 2021 — After five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia

Feb 2021 — A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve 2 ½ years in prison

June 2021 — A Moscow court shuts down Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his extended political network

Feb 2022 — Russia invades Ukraine

March 2022 — Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court

2023 — Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what it calls abuse of Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication & suffering from slow poisoning

April, 2023 — Navalny from inside prison says he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life

Aug 2023 – A court in Russia extends Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years

Dec 2023 – He disappears from his prison as his team fear he could be assassination. He then reappears weeks later in one of Siberia’s toughest prisons – the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony

Here is a timeline of key events:

FALSELY jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on baseless accusations of espionage in March 2023.

Here is a timeline of key events:

Russia’s security service, the FSB, charged him with espionage – a charge that he, the WSJ and the US government deny.

They argued – without evidence – that he collected “information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

Day 12: April 10, 2023 – The US designated Gershkovich wrongfully detained and launched effort on Russia to free him.

Day 20: April 18, 2023 – A Moscow court upheld his pre-trial detention, denied him bail and ordered him to be held in the capital’s infamous Lefortovo prison.

Day 55: May 23, 2023 – Gershkovich’s detention was extended until at least August 30.

His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, travelled to the hearing and said “any parents who loves their kid would travel to the end of the world to be with them for give minutes.”

Day 76: June 13, 2023 – The White House called on Russia to immediately free Gershkovich and also free former US marine Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage in 2020.

Day 85: June 22, 2023 – A Moscow court upheld the extension of Gershkovich’s detention until at least August 30.

Day 100: July 7, 2023 – The world’s press stood for solidarity with the reporter as his shameful detention reached 100 days.

Day 174: September, 19, 2023 – Gershkovich had another appeal for freedom blocked.

Day 195: October 10, 2023 – The US reporter had yet another appeal denied which would see his detention extended until at least November 30.

Day 244: November 28, 2023 – A court ruled Gershkovich would remain in pre-trial detention until at least January 30.

Day 303: January 26, 2024 – The innocent journalist’s time behind bars was extended until the end of March.

Day 316: February 8, 2024 – Vladimir Putin tells US TV host Tucker Carlson a deal could be reached between Russia and the US over Gershkovich.

Day 363: March 26, 2024: Gershkovich’s detention will drag on until June 30 as he nears one year behind bars.

Day 442: June 13, 2024: Russian authorities announce he will stand trial over bogus accusations that the reporter was spying for the CIA

Day 455: June 26, 2024: Closed-door sham trial begins in Yekaterinburg at the Sverdlovsk courthouse with Evan appearing inside a glass cage

Day 478: July 19, 2024: Evan is sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison

Day 491: August 1, 2024: Evan is released as part of a historic prisoner exchange deal between Russia and the West

It is a joyous day for Evan’s family, friends and colleagues, who have worried about him and supported him these past 16 months.

It is a joyous day for the millions of well-wishers in the U.S. and around the world who stood with Evan and defended the free press. 

And it is a joyous day for the relatives and friends of the other wrongfully detained Americans and German citizens who returned home and for the Russian political prisoners who were released to the West. 

That it was done in a trade for Russian operatives guilty of serious crimes was predictable as the only solution given President Putin’s cynicism. We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn’t commit. 

We are also grateful to the other governments that helped bring an end to Evan’s nightmare, in particular the German government that played such a critical role.

We know the U.S. government is keenly aware, as are we, that the only way to prevent a quickening cycle of arresting innocent people as pawns in cynical geopolitical games is to remove the incentive for Russia and other nations that pursue the same detestable practice. The ordeal of Evan and the other returnees—along with those Americans still being wrongfully detained around the world—demonstrates the urgent need for a change in the dynamic to prevent the future seizure of innocent hostages. 

But for now, we are celebrating the return of Evan. While we waited for this momentous day, we were determined to be as loud as we could be on Evan’s behalf. We are so grateful for all the voices that were raised when his was silent. We can finally say, in unison, “Welcome home, Evan.” 

It has been our honor to have got to know Evan’s family—Ella, Mikhail, Danielle and Anthony—and we have marveled at their good grace, fortitude and wisdom under such pressure. We can imagine and share in their joy and relief at the return of their son and brother. 

I am proud of how forcefully the WSJ newsroom and Dow Jones responded to the call of a colleague in extreme distress. Now we and Evan’s many friends in the media and elsewhere can celebrate his return to freedom.

All those who spoke up for Evan and worked for his release—the U.S. and allied governments, Congress, the media industry, readers of the Journal, supporters of the free press, opponents of arbitrary detention, those moved by the plight of a young American journalist behind bars—can know that their support made a huge difference and is greatly, greatly appreciated.

My greatest thanks, though, must go to Evan himself. 

The bogus case against him represented many significant things. A blow against press freedom. A warning to foreign journalists covering the Kremlin. A new tension in America’s relationship with Russia. 

But at the center of it all was Evan, our 32-year-old Moscow correspondent from New Jersey, who likes to cook and supports Arsenal Football Club, and who loved living in and reporting on Russia.

He was our inspiration, the galvanizing force. We watched him deal with his absurd predicament with strength, composure, humor and a “heart-sign” from behind the walls of his courtroom glass cage. Along the way, we learned about his life and his history and understood why he is beloved by so many. 

Now that Evan is home, we plan to give him as much time and space as he needs to restore himself, reconnect, and ponder the next steps in his life and career. We will be right there with him and his family. And we look forward to seeing him in the newsroom when he is ready. 

I want to sign off by once again thanking all those who helped bring him home and rejoice that Evan and his fellow former detainees are reunited with their families.

We stand with them all, 

Emma Tucker