Alexei Navalny is the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and the leader of a party for Russia of the Future. Earlier, he was a Russian Opposition Coordination Council member. In August 2020, Navalny was hospitalized in serious condition after he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. He was medically evacuated to Berlin and discharged a month later. Navalny accused Putin of being responsible for his poisoning, and an investigation implicated agents from the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Navalny’s investigation into President Vladimir Putin’s alleged $1.3 billion palace was the most popular video on Russian YouTube in 2021 after he was detained upon his January return from Germany. Navalny’s team released an in-depth investigation alleging that Putin and his close associates laundered money to build the opulent Black Sea palace. By the end of 2021, it had been viewed over 119 million times.