Alexei Navalny survived 1,125 days in prison. He died in Yamalo-Nenets prison on February 16th 2024. His cause of death is disputed.
In August 2020, on a flight to Moscow, Russia’s charismatic opposition leader, Alexei Navalny started to scream in agony.
The flight immediately diverted to the nearest city and he was rushed unconscious to hospital. What happened next shook the world.
With interviews almost entirely from those “in the room” this film pieces together this incredible story - James Bond meets Johnny English. World leaders pressured President Putin to allow Navalny to be airflifted to a hospital in Berlin experienced in saving the lives of those targeted for poisoning by the Kremlin’s security services. Investigators from Bellingcat proved that not only was Navalny poisoned by an FSB hit squad, but that they had been following him for several years, and developing new variants of the banned chemical weapon, Novichok - first used against the Skripals in Salisbury.
This unbelievable tale of international espionage and incompetent assassins comes to a head with one of the would-be murderers confessing to his victim exactly how the poison was administered - applied to the seams of Navalny’s underpants.
Why was Alexei Navalny such a threat to one of the world’s most powerful men and how did he remain an irritant from inside a Russian jail? This was a battle between two men - one with a team of assassins, the other armed only with a sense of humour, intrepid investigators, and a mastery of social media. What does Navalny’s death now mean for the future of Russia and the rest of the world?
Told by those closest to Navalny, this film incorporates the humour of Navalny’s own YouTube videos to tell a tale worthy of John le Carre.
Directed by BAFTA, Emmy®, and Academy Award® winner Jon Blair.
“Combined meticulous, often jaw-dropping evidence with a lively sense of humour.”
THE TIMES
“Not many documentaries command your rapt attention for 90 minutes, but The Man Putin Couldn’t Kill was unexpectedly entertaining.”
THE TIMES
**** [Four Stars]
THE TIMES
“Full of black humour.”
FINANCIAL TIMES
**** [Four Stars]
I NEWS
“Entertaining.”
THE TELEGRAPH
**** [Four Stars]
FINANCIAL TIMES
**** [Four Stars]
THE TELEGRAPH
“Perfect for our post-truth world.”
THE GUARDIAN
“Chilling.”
THE GUARDIAN
“An extraordinary and bizarrely entertaining film.”
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
**** [Four Stars]
THE GUARDIAN
“Fascinating.”
THE GUARDIAN
“Slick.”
THE SUNDAY TIMES
**** [Four Stars]
MAIL ON SUNDAY
**** [Four Stars]
DAILY MAIL
DURATION
1 x 86-minutes (1 x 69-minute version also available)
BROADCASTER
Channel 4
YEAR OF PRODUCTION
2021
COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION
UK
Director
Academy Award® winner Jon Blair
Producers
Dimitri Collingridge, Marcel Theroux
Executive Producers
Brian Woods, Dorothy Byrne