A year after his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) was outlawed as extremist by the Kremlin, long-time staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, has created a new international anti-corruption fund. It is somewhat unclear whether this is a new concept, or whether it is a rebrand of the original foundation, formulated to avoid arrest once more.

Navalny is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption activist. He has spoken out numerous times against Putin and the Russian government, organized anti-corruption demonstrations, and has run for office to advocate for reforms against corruption within the government.

Through his large following on social media platforms, Navalny has published material about corruption in Russia and investigations on corrupt, high-ranking officials within the government and their associates. He was a Russian Opposition Coordination Council member, leader of the Russia of the Future party, and is recognized by Amnesty International as a ‘prisoner of conscience’. 

In 2016, Navalny launched his presidential campaign for the 2018 election but was barred by Russia’s Central Election Commission due to a prior criminal conviction – the Supreme Court rejected his appeal. Navalny initiated Smart Voting in 2018, a tactical voting strategy implemented to consolidate votes of those opposed to United Russia. 

With his harsh opposition to the current regime in Russia, Navalny is seen as an enemy of Putin, and the Kremlin does what it can to silence his voice. In August of 2020, Navalny was hospitalized and in serious condition after being poisoned by Novichok – a Soviet-era nerve agent. He was medically evacuated to Berlin for treatment. Navalny accused Putin of poisoning him, and an investigation later pointed to agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service as being responsible. 

Navalny was immediately detained upon his return to Russia and accused of violating the parole that been imposed on him as a result of his 2014 conviction, while in Germany. Following his arrest and release of his documentary Putin’s Palace, which accused Putin of corruption, mass protests were held all over Russia. 

In March of 2022, he was sentenced to an additional nine years after being found guilty of contempt of court and embezzlement, a ruling that Amnesty International claims to be fraudulent. 

Though he is currently still imprisoned, this week, Navalny took to Twitter to announce that his new foundation would be transparent, and that “Putin and his crooks” would not succeed in their efforts to destroy the foundation. 

“The Foundation will be completely transparent and clear,” Navalny wrote in a tweet. “The first contribution to its existence will be the Sakharov Prize, awarded to me by the European Parliament (50,000 euros).”

The advisory board will include Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian prime minister and member of the European Parliament; Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning publicist; philosopher Francis Fukuyama; and Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya.