The Kremlin stated on Monday that the Oscar win for a documentary about imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny demonstrates "a certain aspect of politicization" in Hollywood. The documentary "Navalny," which won the Oscar on Sunday, features the Kremlin critic during his recovery in Germany from a nerve agent poisoning in Siberia in 2020, and documents his work with the investigative journalism site Bellingcat to uncover those responsible for the poisoning attempt.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned that he had not seen the film, but added, "I can, of course, assume that there is a certain aspect of politicization in the subject." He noted that Hollywood is accustomed to politics, "but I cannot talk about any artistic aspects of this film because I have not seen it."
In the film, Navalny accused a team of agents from the Russian Federal Security Service of being behind the poisoning attempt. Russia has denied any attempt to kill him. Navalny has long been a thorn in President Vladimir Putin's side, who avoids publicly mentioning his name. Navalny is currently serving an 11-and-a-half-year sentence in a high-security prison on charges of fraud and contempt of court, which he claims are fabricated to silence him.
