Alexei Navalny prank calls his own would-be assasins. Photo / Docplay
Over the next few weeks, The Front Page podcast is revisiting some of the major stories covered in 2022.
No story has been bigger this year than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The conflict started at the end of February, and there are no signs of either side giving up any time soon.
While the world condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions, it’s hardly the first time the Russian strongman has lashed out – nor is it the first time he got things wrong.
A documentary about opposition politician Alexei Navalny released back in September highlighted some of Putin’s failings, by following the one man who has shown that he can be challenged.
Navalny director Daniel Roher joined The Front Page in September to discuss why he was compelled by Navalny’s story, and why Putin is so desperate to keep him silent.
The film by Roher documents the recovery and political struggle of Navalny, who was poisoned by agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service.
In response to the allegations of Russian involvement, Putin infamously said that if he had tried to poison Navalny he would have succeeded.
But Roher sees it another way.
“It’s just another example of Putin’s profound and endless well of incompetence,” said the filmmaker behind the Navalny documentary.
“Not only did they not finish him off, but they failed spectacularly. And then some moron from Putin’s security services, the successor agency to his beloved KGB, told Alexei [Navalny] the entire plot on a prank phone call.”
Roher is referring here to a stunning moment in his film in which a Russian agent inadvertently gives a play-by-play rundown of how they went about trying to kill Navalny.
“Putin was blustering and thumping his chest, but I think he is creating for himself an alternate reality. And it’s the same reality we see playing out in Ukraine.”
Despite the size and strength of the Russian military, Ukraine has managed to hold the occupiers at bay and even take back large parts of the country in recent skirmishes.
There is a growing sense that Ukraine may, in fact, end up winning this war in what would be a humiliating defeat for Putin.
“The war in Ukraine is perhaps the greatest geopolitical blunder certainly of this century so far,” says Roher.
“It’s definitely up there.”
As the war drags on, Navalny remains in prison but his supporters (much like the Ukrainian fighters) have not lost their resolve.
Listen to the full episode of The Front Page to hear what might come next for the gutsy politician.
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