Here is the full transcript of Dasha Navalnaya’s talk titled “Lessons from My Father, Alexey Navalny” at TEDWomen 2023 conference.
Dasha Navalnaya’s talk, “Lessons from My Father, Alexey Navalny,” is a poignant narrative that underscores the personal and political struggles faced by the family of Alexey Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition leader imprisoned for his activism. She shares the emotional toll of her father’s imprisonment, fearing he might miss significant life events like her graduation and wedding.
Dasha recounts a harrowing experience on August 20, 2020, when her father was poisoned, highlighting the dangers faced by those who oppose the Russian government. The talk delves into the work of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by Navalny, showcasing its efforts in exposing government corruption and mobilizing public support against Putin’s regime. She emphasizes the power of unity and collective action in challenging authoritarianism, drawing on her father’s chant, “One for all and all for one.”
Dasha appeals to the international community to recognize and act against the threats posed by the Russian government, emphasizing the global implications of inaction. Through her narrative, Dasha Navalnaya not only pays tribute to her father’s courage and principles but also calls for continued resistance against tyranny and for the support of democratic values worldwide.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Early Days and Personal Impact
This week, on Sunday, Alexey Navalny — politician, opposition leader, and my father — will have been in prison for 1,000 days. Almost three years. I miss him every single day. I’m scared that my father won’t be able to come to my graduation ceremony or walk me down the aisle at my wedding. But if being my father’s daughter has taught me anything, it is to never succumb to fear and sadness. And I’ve experienced both fear and sadness.
One of the most fearful moments of my short yet eventful life was on August 20, 2020. That day, I woke up in my childhood bedroom in Moscow. Like many of us do first thing in the morning, I rolled over to the bedside table and reached for my phone. I looked at the screen and was surprised at how many notifications I had: Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, you name it.
My feeling of confusion started to slowly turn into a sense of worry. Alexey Navalny had suddenly fell unconscious on the plane and was taken to the emergency room at the hospital. My heart dropped to my feet. Without blinking an eye, I jumped out of my bed and ran to my parents’ bedroom to tell my mom that I was able to look after my younger brother, Zahar, while she was away. But by then, she was already at the airport.
The plane on which my father had collapsed had to make an emergency landing in a city in Siberia. And after two days, an international uproar and my mom fighting tooth and nail to get him out of there, he was finally transferred to the clinic called Charité in Berlin, Germany. There, at the special laboratory of the German armed forces, they confirmed that he was indeed poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent of the Novichok group. He spent three weeks in a coma. And after months and months of recovery, he went back to work with the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation
Founded over a decade ago, the Anti-Corruption Foundation has been doing incredibly important and dangerous work of spreading information and exposing the corrupt nature of the Russian government. We’ve produced over 500 investigations, helped organize hundreds of protests in Moscow, and run election campaigns.
We provide free legal assistance to those who, like my father, have been imprisoned for peacefully protesting the regime. We’ve created a sanctions list of 6,000 government officials, propagandists, entrepreneurs, various artists, and more people who’ve supported and worked with Putin over the years. And the list works. Governments all over the world have used our list when imposing sanctions.
Because Putin and his associates, they live lavishly. They own condos in Miami and penthouses in Manhattan. They own vineyards in France and villas on Lake Como. They buy enormous yachts and country houses with gold toilets. They buy private jets to send their corgis to dog competitions. Yes, you heard that right. In 2016, the Anti-Corruption Foundation released an investigation that Russia’s deputy prime minister owned an undeclared jet valued at over 60 million dollars and used it primarily to send his dogs to international competitions.
All of this while most citizens in Russia scramble and live on wages of under 200 dollars. According to independent polling done by the ACF sociology center, only 15 percent of the population believe in Putin’s propaganda. That means that 85 percent of the population either opposes the regime, doesn’t think it really affects them, don’t follow politics, or simply don’t know what to believe. This is why we ask our supporters, who are ordinary citizens, to spread our investigations and news content to their family members, friends, and loved ones, because we know that if we can reach those who are on the fence or persuade those who have been brainwashed by Putin, we’ll get that much closer to changing the regime.
Unity and Courage Against Tyranny
One of my favorite chants my dad used to do during the 2011 to 2014 protests in Moscow was, “One for all and all for one.” This is a phrase that we’re all familiar with, but most of us often forget. Dictators like Putin want us to forget it. They want us to forget how strong we can be when we work together. They want us to forget how much we can accomplish when we stand side by side. Because it is that much harder for any dictator to fight an international united front than each of us individually.
Now you might think to yourself, “Dasha, why should I care about this? Geographically, the United States is quite far away from Putin. Is he really that threatening to us, or are you just trying to raise unnecessary alarm?” And to that, I want to respond with another thought.