On August 20, 2020, leading Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny went into a coma after falling ill on a flight to Moscow. After receiving treatment in Germany following an emergency medical evacuation, German doctors confirmed that Navalny had been poisoned with a highly toxic nerve agent. While the Kremlin has involved any involvement, the incident follows an alarming pattern of the targeted poisonings of opposition figures, journalists, and Russian dissidents in the two decades since Vladimir Putin came to power. This course will prepare you to read and watch Russian media reporting on these events, taking a look at some of these poisonings, as well as the potential consequences for Russia in connection with the most recent attack. Lessons 1 – 3 will prepare you to read Russian language media articles while Lessons 4 and 5 focus on video news reports. Some sample vocabulary from the course includes: отравление – poisoning; шприц – syringe; внутренние органы – internal organs; якобы – allegedly; виновный – guilty party
