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THE final diary entry of Vladimir Putin's arch-foe Alexei Navalny vows "victory is inevitable".
The persecuted freedom fighter wrote the brave words inside the sadistic "Polar Wolf" gulag where some claim the Russian tyrant had him murdered just days later.
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Navalny, 47, died in the Siberian prison on February 16 after he was reportedly poisoned on Putin's orders.
His final diary entry has been revealed in a new book - Patriot - a posthumous memoir released Tuesday.
The entry, dated January 17, 2024, vows that Putin will be defeated and his rule built on "nothing but lies" will "crumble and collapse".
The jailed opposition leader writes: "The Putinist state is not sustainable. One day, we will look at it, and it won't be there.
"Victory is inevitable."
The entry also calls on the reader to never give up their principles and to be willing to face consequences for them - just as Navalny did.
He writes: "And if you're not prepared to do that, you have no convictions. You just think you do.
"But those are not convictions and principles; they're only thoughts in your head."
His final words in the entry ask the reader to fight for what they believe.
Navalny writes: "But for now, we must not give up and we must stand by our beliefs."
Brave Navalny mourners defy Putin to chant opposition to Ukraine war
The resistance leader stood up for his beliefs and was poisoned by Putin with the feared nerve agent Novichok for them.
When he returned to Russia, he was then imprisoned for 19 years on trumped up extremism charges as Putin sought to cement his iron grip.
Navalny denied the charges but was dumped in the hellhole gulag in the brutal act of political repression.
Prison authorities claimed that he felt unwell after a walk, then lost consciousness and died.
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But backers, like the Estonian President and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, accused Putin of murder.
Allegations have also arisen that Navalny was brutally tortured before his death.
Gulagu.net - which is headed by Russian dissident Vladimir Osechkin - claimed: “The forensic expert was pressured to conceal the discovery of blood clots….in the calf muscles and arms”.
Those blood clots imply a disruption of his normal circulation.
A source told the organisation that the forensic physician concluded "that four to five hours before the onset of biological death, the prisoner was tied up and his arms and legs”.
His limbs “were tightly tied just so that the blood stagnated and blood clots formed in it, which then clogged the pulmonary artery and blood vessels of the brain”, said a statement from the organisation.
But those findings have been hidden by Russian spies looking to cover up the death, the site claims.
Tragically, his death came just before he was poised to be freed in a prisoner swap his aide claimed.
Maria Pevchikh said he was ready to be handed over for FSB killer Vadim Krasikov, before Putin changed his mind.
Navalny's open-casket funeral in March brought crowds onto the street of Moscow as they bid farewell to their hero.
Footage from the scene showed a large crowd of people clapping and shouting Navalny's name as the hearse transporting his body arrived at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows.
Mourners were heard chanting: "Putin is a killer", "We won't forget", "Freedom for political prisoners", and "Russia without Putin".
His wife Yulia Navalnaya has now vowed in an interview with the BBC to return to Russia and run for president.
Who was Alexei Navalny?
PUTIN'S best known opponent Alexei Navalny, 47, has died in prison.
Here is a timeline that took the leader of the opposition from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin's biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison and onto an early grave.
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.
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English (US) · 