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President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic has been handed a fresh prison term, which could keep him behind bars for another two decades.

Russian politician Alexei Navalny was sentenced by a court to 19 years in jail on Friday after being found guilty of extremism charges relating to the activities of his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).

He is already serving a nine-year term for a number of charges that he claims are politically motivated.

Since rising to prominence as an opposition figure in the early 2000s, Navalny has previously been convicted of defying government officials, embezzlement, fraud, parole violations and contempt of court.

The foundation he set up in 2011 has sought to discredit Putin and his associates through well-produced online investigative documentaries that claim to expose their opulent lifestyles.

His persistent online campaigning has gained him a network of loyal followers both in and outside Russia.

It has also seen him repeatedly jailed, barred from running for political office and most famously poisoned by a Soviet-era nerve agent in 2020.

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Here we look at how the biggest thorn in the Kremlin’s side got to where he is now.

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Navalny appears in court

Ukrainian heritage

Alexei Navalny was born to factory owners in a village west of Moscow called Butyn in 1976, but grew up in the town of Obninsk, around 60 miles southwest of the Russian capital.

He is Ukrainian on his paternal side and spent summers with his Ukrainian grandmother in the town near Chernobyl where his family are from.

Navalny, now 47, cites the mistreatment of locals after the 1986 nuclear disaster as one of the reasons he first sought to take on the Moscow regime.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Navalny graduated with a law degree from Moscow’s Peoples’ Friendship University in 1998 before gaining a second in economics in 2001.

It was around this time that Vladimir Putin rose to power supported by a circle of oligarchs that bought up state-owned companies and sponsored his United Russia party.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via a video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, August 2, 2023. Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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Vladimr Putin

Anti-corruption foundation

To begin with, Navalny expressed nationalist and anti-immigrant views. His focus on government corruption has largely clouded earlier comments about Muslims in Russia, but in 2021 Amnesty International retracted his ‘prisoner of conscious’ status after he failed to distance himself from them.

He joined the liberal Yabloko opposition party in 2000 but was expelled for “nationalist activities” in 2007.

While working as a lawyer in the early 2000s, Navalny started blogging, with the initial aim of protesting against rampant overdevelopment in Moscow.

As the years went by and Putin’s grip on power tightened, his campaigns honed in on corruption of state-run organisations such as gas and oil giants Gazprom and Rosneft.

He bought small shares in the companies along with some state-owned banks so he could ask awkward questions about their funding at AGMs.

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Navalny calls for daily protests over Ukraine

In 2010 he founded RosPil, an anti-corruption project run by lawyers that monitored the spending of state-run organisations and enabled them to bring several cases of suspected violations to court.

A year later in 2011 he established his main Anti-Corruption Foundation, which now has millions of followers worldwide through its various social media channels.

In December that year following widespread reports Russia’s parliamentary elections had been rigged, thousands gathered in Moscow to contest the result.

Navalny was the first of around 300 people to be arrested. He was jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official”.

With Putin re-elected and Navalny gaining notoriety, charges against the opposition leader began to stack up. One of the first in 2012 was for embezzlement of the state-owned timber company Kirovles.

Alexei Navalny in court in Moscow. Pic: AP
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In court in Moscow. Pic: AP

Mayor of Moscow bid

In 2013 he ran to be mayor of Moscow, coming second with 27% of the vote and receiving around 97.3 million rubles (£2.3m) in campaign funding.

In a separate case involving the Russian subsidiary of French cosmetics company Yves Rocher, Navalny was placed under house arrest and banned from using the internet in 2014. His team continued to update his blog for him.

Eventually he was handed a three-and-a-half year prison suspended prison sentence – but his brother Oleg was jailed.

Navalny released a video on YouTube
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Appearing in one of his YouTube videos

In late-2015 FBK’s first long-form investigation was released. The YouTube documentary ‘Chaika’ accused then-Russian prosecutor General Yury Chaika of corruption and ties to a notorious criminal group – and received 26 million views.

A year later Navalny announced his intention to run in the 2018 presidential elections, but he was eventually barred from standing over the outcome of the Kirovles embezzlement case, bringing condemnation from the EU and wider international community.

The 44-year-old places a piece of paper on the inside of his glass pod in court
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Holding a blank piece of paper against the glass wall of the dock in court

Another YouTube documentary, this time on former prime minister Dmitry Medvedev and his alleged empire of palaces, was released by Navalny and his team in March 2017, racking up seven million views in its first week.

It triggered rallies throughout Russia, subsequent arrests, and Navalny being jailed for organising unauthorised demonstrations.

At one protest, he was attacked with disinfectant by a group of unknown assailants, which damaged his right eye.

Screengrab of the Putin Palace on the Black sea. Pic: YouTube/Alexei Navalny
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Putin’s Black Sea Palace from one of Navalny’s documentaries. Pic: YouTube/Alexei Navalny

Novichok poisoning

It was only three years ago that Navalny’s fight against Putin hit headlines beyond Russia.

On 20 August 2020, he was travelling back to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk, where he had been working with local activists, when he fell gravely ill on the plane.

The pilot made an emergency landing in nearby Omsk and Navalny received emergency hospital treatment.

Alexei Navalny
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In hospital in Germany with wife Yulia and his two children

His team immediately accused the Kremlin of poisoning him, which it vehemently denied, and he was flown, still in a coma, to Berlin.

People gather outside a hospital, where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny receives medical treatment in Omsk, Russia August 21, 2020. Navalny was taken ill with suspected poisoning en route from Tomsk to Moscow on a plane, which made an emergency landing in Omsk. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
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The hospital in Omsk, Siberia where he received treatment in 2020

After wide-ranging tests, numerous German medics confirmed he had been poisoned with novichok – the same Soviet-era nerve agent used to poison former KGB agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in 2018.

His recovery took five months, with his wife Yulia, daughter Dasha and son Zakhar, by his bedside.

Despite the risk of arrest, Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021 where he was immediately detained for allegedly violating the terms of his suspended sentence from the Yves Rocher case.

Police officers detain a demonstrator with a poster that reads: "Freedom for Alexei Navalny", in Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, June 4, 2023. Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has voiced hope for a better future in Russia as his supporters held demonstrations to mark his birthday. Risking their own prison terms, some Navalny supporters in Russia marked his birthday by holding individual pickets, and other painted graffiti. Police quickly detained many for questioning. (
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Police detain a protester in Moscow with a ‘Freedom for Alexei Navalny’ placard

Fresh wave of anti-Putin protests

News of his arrest triggered some of the biggest protests in Russia since Putin’s rise to power and resulted in thousands of demonstrators being arrested themselves.

Navalny was sentenced to two-and-a-half years for the parole violation, but as before, his team provided updates on him through his Twitter and other social media accounts.

Among them was news of a three-week hunger strike, which Navalny said was due to sleep deprivation and being refused medical treatment.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny looks at a camera while speaking via a video link from a prison during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022
PIC:AP
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Appearing from prison via videolink. Pic: AP

In June 2021 a Moscow court outlawed his foundation and conducted a series of raids aimed at shutting down its network. Some team members were forced to flee Russia.

Following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Navalny used his social media posts and court appearances to protest against the war. At one hearing he described it as “stupid” and “built on lies”.

A month later at short notice he was brought back to court and handed another nine years for embezzlement and contempt of court before being transferred to a maximum-security prison in Vladimir, western Russia.

Graffiti in support of Alexei Navalny in St Petersburg, Russia
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Graffiti of him in St Petersburg

This hasn’t stopped him and his team relaunching the anti-corruption movement and filing lawsuits over his treatment in prison, which he claims has seen him forced to listen to one of Putin speeches on repeat for 100 days in a row.

Despite his team’s concerns about his health and that he may be being slowly poisoned behind bars, Navalny remains defiant, claiming his death would only further fuel the protest movement.

And in spite of his latest sentence, many in Russia view him as a Nelson Mandela-style figure, who they hope will be released from prison to take over as president when Putin falls.

A documentary about him, which reveals him tricking a chemical weapons expert into seemingly confessing to poisoning his underwear with Novichok, won an Oscar earlier this year.

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A peace deal isn’t a sure thing, Zelenskyy’s UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

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A peace deal isn't a sure thing, Zelenskyy's UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Downing Street once again, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be keen to make this meeting more than just a photo op.

On Monday the prime minister will welcome not only the Ukrainian president, but also E3 allies France and Germany to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join Sir Keir in showing solidarity and support for Ukraine and its leader, but it’s the update on the peace negotiations that will be the main focus of the meet up.

The four leaders are said to be set to not only discuss those talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also to talk about next steps if a deal were to be reached and what that might look like.

Ahead of the discussions, Sir Keir spoke with the Dutch leader Dick Schoof where both leaders agreed Ukraine’s defence still needs international support, and that Ukraine’s security is vital to European security.

But while Russia’s war machine shows no signs of abating, a warm welcome and kind words won’t be enough to satisfy the embattled Ukrainian president at a time when Russian drone and missile attacks continue to bombard Kyiv.

Keir Starmer welcoming Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Downing Street during a previous visit. Pic: AP
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Keir Starmer welcoming Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Downing Street during a previous visit. Pic: AP

What is the latest in negotiations?

Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with US President Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.

“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”

But on Sunday evening, ahead of an event at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said he was “disappointed” with Mr Zelenskyy, as was asked about the next steps in Russia-Ukraine talks following negotiations.

He said: “We’ve been speaking to President Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.

“And I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.

“His people love it. But he hasn’t – Russia’s fine with it. Russia’s you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it but he hasn’t read it.”

Read more:
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On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, had told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised new US security strategy over the weekend, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.

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Thailand launches airstrikes against Cambodia as border clashes reignite

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Thailand launches airstrikes against Cambodia as border clashes reignite

Thailand has launched airstrikes and said it has struck military targets along the border with Cambodia, as both sides accused the other of attacking first.

One Thai soldier was killed and eight others wounded, according to Thai army spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree, who also said Cambodian troops fired first into Thai territory.

Thailand used aircraft “to strike military targets in several areas to suppress Cambodian supporting fire attacks,” he added.

In Cambodia, Met Measpheakdey, deputy governor of Oddar Meanchey province, wrote in a Facebook post that three civilians had been seriously injured.

Cambodian officials said the Thai military attacked their troops first in Preah Vihear province.

“Cambodia urges that Thailand immediately stop all hostile activities that threaten peace and stability in the region,” said Cambodian defence ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata.

Tensions have simmered since the neighbouring countries signed a US-brokered ceasefire agreement in October, put forward by US President Donald Trump.

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Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet shake hands next to US President Donald Trump in October. Pic: Reuters
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Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet shake hands next to US President Donald Trump in October. Pic: Reuters

Their territorial disputes led to five days of combat in July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that military operations would be carried out as necessary to defend the country and protect public safety.

“Thailand has never wished for violence. I’d like to reiterate that Thailand has never initiated a fight or an invasion, but will never tolerate a violation of its sovereignty,” he said.

In Thailand, more than 385,000 civilians across several border districts are being evacuated, with over 35,000 already housed in temporary shelters, military officials said.

People rest at a shelter in Buriram province, Thailand, after fresh military clashes. Pic: Reuters
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People rest at a shelter in Buriram province, Thailand, after fresh military clashes. Pic: Reuters

A concrete shelter in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province. Pic: AP
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A concrete shelter in Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province. Pic: AP

Meanwhile, the Cambodian Education Ministry said several schools along the border had been shut.

Footage posted online showed what appeared to be students hurriedly leaving classes to meet their parents.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged Thailand and Cambodia to “exercise maximum restraint”.

In a post on social media, he added: “Our region cannot afford to see long-standing disputes slip into cycles of confrontation.”

Si Sa Ket, Surin and Ubon Ratchathani provinces in Thailand, and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey provinces were among the areas said to be caught up in the latest clashes.

On Sunday, both nations accused each other of opening fire along the border in what the Thai army said was an incident that lasted around 20 minutes and resulted in the injury of two of its soldiers.

But Cambodia said that the Thai side fired first and that Cambodian troops did not retaliate.

For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at points along their 508-mile (817km) land border.

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President Trump may walk away from Ukraine peace process, his eldest son says

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President Trump may walk away from Ukraine peace process, his eldest son says

Donald Trump’s eldest son has said his father may walk away from the Ukraine peace process, claiming the issue is not a priority for Americans, and signalling Europe needs a better plan.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Sky’s lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim at Doha Forum 2025, Donald Trump Jr addressed issues including the US administration’s recent diplomatic efforts around the world.

He was speaking in his capacity as a business leader, setting out his agenda for “America first” investments in defence technology and artificial intelligence (AI), drawing a direct line between global stability and economic prosperity.

Ukraine war latest – follow live updates

Donald Trump meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington earlier this year. Pic: Reuters

When asked directly if he believed the US president would walk away from Ukraine, he answered: “I think he may, what’s good about my father and what’s unique about my father is you don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s unpredictable.”

President Trump has led renewed efforts for a ceasefire deal with Russia in recent months.

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Drawing a parallel with his father’s current “war” on drug cartels, Donald Trump Jr described gangs bringing illegal drugs into America as a “far greater clear and present danger to the US than anything [going on] in the Ukraine or Russia”.

While he said he did not believe Ukraine would be “abandoned”, he said: “The American public doesn’t have the appetite [for endless wars and further funding of Ukraine’s military efforts].”

Describing Ukraine as “a far more corrupt country than Russia”, he characterised Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as “one of the great marketeers of all time”, who he said had become “a borderline deity, especially to the left”.

He went on to describe President Trump’s approach as “common sense”.

China rivalry was the focus, but Musk got a mention


Yalda Hakim

Yalda Hakim

Lead world news presenter

@SkyYaldaHakim

In a country and at a conference which is friendly, even admiring of the Trump administration, Don Jr was in his element.

He’s here in his capacity as a business leader, promoting his venture, 1789 Capital which claims to be focused on “America First” investments.

But he wasn’t shy about discussing his father’s foreign policy achievements, boasting that Donald Trump had resolved seven or eight wars – conflicts that most ordinary Americans were unaware of.

His pitch is bullish and direct – the current US administration is projecting strength globally, stopping wars and creating investment opportunities which serves the American economy. It’s the MAGA mentality for the global audience.

It’s clear that the rivalry with China is their biggest focus, especially finding ways to combat their dominance over critical minerals.

“America can no longer just sit there and hope that China is going to be a good actor… I think the rest of the world understands that they want America to be at the forefront of all of that.”

When I asked him about recent efforts by President Trump to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, he responded forcefully. “We want peace, we want to stop the death.”

But he went on to say that Europe needed to shoulder the burden and currently they have no plan.

As he sat on the stage in Qatar, the country which has been at the centre of the ceasefire efforts for Gaza, he expressed hope that peace would prevail, but balanced expectations America would fund its re-construction. This would have to be a global effort.

“If there’s one thing my father is, it’s a builder… I think he can be the greatest construction manager in the history of the world, but no one in America wants to bear the entire responsibility of that.”

And, away from international diplomatic efforts, he was happy to announce a breakthrough closer to home.

The “bromance” with Elon Musk and President Trump is back on – calling the entrepreneur a “generational talent, a generational level of genius”.

‘Bromance’ back on

He also confirmed that Tesla billionaire Elon Musk was “100% back in the fold”, after previously appearing to fall out with the president.

Earlier this year, Donald Trump Jr’s investment company, 1789 Capital, heavily invested in some of Musk’s companies, including SpaceX.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in May. Pic: AP
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Elon Musk and Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in May. Pic: AP

Directly comparing President Trump with Musk, he said: “Imagine dealing with one Donald Trump – now I have to deal with two.

“They’re very similar that way, so it created some headaches… but the reality is they’re both very much aligned, they’re on message with what we want to do with our country. What we want to do with freedom of speech.”

He went on: “Elon did incredible things for Twitter, really allowed the democratisation of truth and freedom and free speech to occur. That’s something that is a true threat in America right now.”

He also praised Musk as “changing the face of free speech, science and technology”, adding, “we have to protect our geniuses”.

When asked whether Mr Trump would stand for a third term, he joked that he could be “just trolling” those on the left.

He went on, “He’s the most unpredictable person, probably in the history of politics. Which is why he’s able to get something done. We’ll see.”

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