Alexei Navalny memoir says The Wire inspired political career: ‘I’m a big fan’

Late Russian opposition leader wrote of David Simon’s hit Baltimore-set series inspiring Moscow campaign

In his posthumously published memoir, Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, describes how the campaign for mayor of Moscow in 2013 that launched his political career was directly inspired by American grassroots politics as depicted in The Wire, David Simon’s seminal HBO series about crime and power in Baltimore.

“I was banned from appearing on television or in the papers, so I decided to communicate directly,” writes Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison in February, a death seen to have been ordered by Vladimir Putin, the authoritarian president Navalny opposed.

Topics

Key takeaways from Alexey Navalny's posthumous memoir
Top stories - CBS News - October 22
Navalny's memoir details isolation and suffering in a Russian prison — and how he never lost hope
Entertainment - ABC News - October 22
Navalny's memoir details isolation and suffering in a Russian prison — and how he never lost hope
World - ABC News - October 22
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, says she can ‘imagine Russia without Putin’
World - The Guardian - October 24
Putin critic Alexey Navalny's widow urges Americans not to take democracy for granted
Top stories - ABC News - October 24
Patriot by Alexei Navalny review – the man who dared to defy Putin
World - The Guardian - October 27

Alexei Navalny memoir says The Wire inspired political career: ‘I’m a big fan’

Topics

Related

Key takeaways from Alexey Navalny's posthumous memoir

Navalny's memoir details isolation and suffering in a Russian prison — and how he never lost hope

Navalny's memoir details isolation and suffering in a Russian prison — and how he never lost hope

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, says she can ‘imagine Russia without Putin’

Putin critic Alexey Navalny's widow urges Americans not to take democracy for granted

Patriot by Alexei Navalny review – the man who dared to defy Putin

More from The Guardian

Russia-Ukraine war live: Doubts cast over Kyiv claim that Russia launched intercontinental ballistic missile

John Prescott, British former deputy prime minister, dies aged 86

Mazyouna, whose face was ‘ripped off’ by Israeli missile, allowed to leave Gaza

Transgender woman wins record payout in China after electroshock treatment

Cop29 climate finance deal hits fresh setback as deadline looms