Murder in the Gulag

Beginning with the mystery of Alexei Navalny’s murder in the Arctic Wolf penal colony in a remote part of Siberia, the book will tell the life story of the Russian opposition leader who was a perpetual thorn in the side of Vladimir Putin. It will be a warts-and-all biography of Navalny, a highly charismatic but controversial figure who flirted with far-right Russian nationalists at one point, told by a larger-than-life journalist, based in London and Kyiv, who met Navalny three times. The book contains an important message. Navalny made a fatal misjudgement in returning to Russia after his poisoning by Novichok in 2020, betting that Putin wouldn’t kill him. But as Putin has gained in strength, with the death of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and the fortunes of war slowly turning in Russia’s favour, Navalny lost that bet. John argues that if the West fails to stand up more forcefully to Putin, we are in danger not just of betraying Ukraine but our own security too.