The Death of Alexei Navalny

On 16 February 2024, the sudden death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was announced from the Polar Wolf prison in Kharp, Siberia, Russia, where he had been held since December, following a series of transfers after his incarceration in 2021.  Navalny, who can be seen laughing and joking in a video just the day before, reportedly felt unwell after a morning walk, collapsed, and could not be revived.

Navalny had long been a thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, organizing and leading the opposition to his despotic rule for over a decade.  Putin had tried at least once before to have him killed, using poison, and astrologic factors point to his death being a repeat performance, successful this time.   In August 2020 Navalny became violently ill during a flight, losing consciousness and lapsing into a coma; he was medically evacuated to Berlin, where the cause was determined to be Novichok poisoning, a Soviet era neurotoxin.  Miraculously, Navalny survived, and despite the risk to his life returned to Russia in January 2021, where he was immediately arrested, and has been in detention ever since, under increasingly harsh conditions, serving a nineteen-year sentence for “extremism.”

There is no exact match for either Alexei or Navalny, but asteroid Alex 3367 comes closest to his first name.  In Russian, both Alexei and Alexander mean “defender,” so in addition, although the two names are distinct, I have used asteroids Alexander 296907 and Alexandra 54 (the feminine form).  There is nothing comparable to Navalny (in more ways than one).

At Alexei Navalny’s death, the Sun at 27 Aquarius is in a Grand Trine with asteroids Siberia 1094 at 26 Libra and Poisson 12874 at 29 Gemini.  Both are stationary, making them vital factors in the day, with Poisson turning direct the day after his death, and Siberia turning retrograde three days after that (technically, Siberia turns at 27 Libra 00, just edging into the next degree, but its proximity to the station date qualifies as stationary status).  Siberia is of course the region of Russia where Navalny was being held at his death, and Poisson is just “poison” with an extra “s.”

For confirmation of Poisson’s utility, we can look at the prior poisoning, on 20 August 2020.  Amazingly, the Sun then was at 27 Leo, exactly opposite the passing chart Sun (if at first you don’t succeed…).  Poisson at 6 Libra conjoins asteroid Alex at 0 Libra, and is squared by asteroid Alexandra at 5 Cancer, doubling down on the Poisson/poison-Alexei connection.  Putin’s fingerprints in that attack appear as a Grand Cross of asteroid Putilin 3577 (closest to Putin) at 25 Libra, exactly opposed Mars (attacks, enemies) at 25 Aries, with the crossbars formed by asteroid Vladimir 1724 at 24 Cancer opposing a Jupiter (political)/Pluto (homicide)/Saturn (head of state) conjunction at 18, 22 and 26 Capricorn.

But to return to Navalny’s death.  There are two more celestial referents for poison, culled from other languages.  Asteroid Velenia 21660 is closely related to veleno, Italian for poison, and asteroid Yada 23241 suggests the Russian yad, also poison.  We will deal  with these severally, as they fit into the patterns of the day.

Additional indicators of murder, in whatever form, include Pluto at 0 Aquarius (ruling criminal conduct, homicide and death generally) exactly opposed asteroid Wolff 5674 (for the Polar Wolf prison location) at 0 Leo, in an exact T-Square with asteroid Alexander at 0 Taurus on the fulcrum, alongside asteroid Panacea 2878 at 3 Taurus (which rules drugs of all kinds, including poisons), and asteroid Carp 44711 (phonetic match for the town of Kharp, where the prison is located) at 6 Taurus.  Russian state media has listed Navalny’s cause of death as a detached blood clot; this would be consistent with Mars at 2 Aquarius, conjoined Pluto, indicating a death (Pluto) related to blood (Mars).  But this same combination is also consistent with murder, and the presence of asteroid Yada here at 28 Capricorn, to my mind, tips the balance in favor of foul play.

As well, a cluster of asteroids Alexandra and Russia 232 at 22 and 29 Pisces, with asteroid Vladimir at 3 Aries, aligns with Neptune, planetary ruler of both prisons and poison, at 26 Pisces, squaring that stationary Poisson at 29 Gemini.  This binds the country (Russia) and its leader (Vladimir) with the dead man (Alexandra) and the certitude of his imprisonment, possibility of poisoning (both Neptune).  For reinforcement of the “poison” motif, we see asteroid Velenia opposed from 24 Virgo.

Asteroid Alex at 9 Gemini opposes asteroid Rip 7711 at 2 Sagittarius (which acts as a death indicator in the form of the acronym RIP, “Rest in Peace”, a common tombstone inscription), in a T-Square with Damocles 5335 (the peril or threat hanging unseen overhead), asteroid Putilin, and Saturn (ancient lord of death), at 0, 4 and 8 Pisces respectively.  There seems little doubt that this was murder, and who is ultimately responsible.

The antipathy between Navalny and Putin is easy to see from the birth chart, as is the manner and place of his death.  Born 4 June 1976 at 1:30 PM MSK in Butyn, Russia (Rodden Rating A), Alexei Navalny has four points at station, which indicate a place, person or character trait which will be of prime importance in the biography.  These are asteroids Putilin at 2 Pisces (turning retrograde on June 20 but already at its station degree); Damocles at 25 Aquarius (impending doom, turned retro May 20); Nemesis 128 at 10 Aquarius (archenemy, rival, competitor, also ruin and destruction; turning retro on June 9^th); and Requiem 2254 at 21 Libra (funeral mass for the dead, signaling a notable death with far-reaching ramifications; turned direct on June 9^th also).  (With Requiem at station we may expect major demonstrations and protests connected to his death, perhaps at his funeral; as of this writing, some 400 people have already been arrested, simply for placing tributes to Navalny at makeshift public memorials.)

This alone is an amazing statement of the dynamic between them, each acting as potential nemesis to the other, the potential threat of doom for either party if the other succeeds, even identifying Vladimir Putin as one of the combatants, and a formative agent in Navalny’s life and biography.  In the midst of the retrograde stations, we also find asteroid Karpov 90414 at 19 Aquarius, another referent for Kharp, the field of battle on which their long fight ended.  Note also that transit Putilin at 4 Pisces has just returned to its natal degree, a “Putilin Return” for Navalny, a period of resetting the natal potential.

Nemesis further opposes asteroid Vladimir at 3 Leo (Putin) and Mars (enemies) at 10 Leo, additional confirmation of their antithetical stance, while Karpov opposes asteroid Lachesis 120 at 17 Leo, named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life.  There is a Grand Cross formed with TNO Ixion 28978 at 9 Scorpio (noted as the first murderer in Greek myth), accompanied by asteroid Alexander at 0 Scorpio and Uranus (shocking, sudden events) at 3 Scorpio, opposed asteroid Carp at 12 Taurus, for Kharp, the Siberian town of his last imprisonment and death.

The possibility of death via poison is foreseen as asteroid Poisson at 23 Cancer, conjoined Saturn, ancient lord of death, at 29 Cancer (with asteroid Vladmir within orb from 3 Leo, suggesting Putin’s culpability).  This zone was transited by an asteroid Achilles 588/Nemesis conjunction at 25 and 26 Cancer at his death, energizing the natal potential by highlighting Navalny’s vulnerability (Achilles) to destruction (Nemesis).

Navalny’s 13 Gemini Sun is exactly conjoined by asteroid Anubis 1912, named for the ancient Egyptian deity governing funerary rites, and asteroid Wolff at 12 Gemini, for the Polar Wolf prison where he died.  These oppose asteroid Rip (death) at 11 Sagittarius and Neptune (poisons, prisons) at 12 Sag.  Rip/Neptune alone implies passing while incarcerated, with Wolff identifying the precise prison, and Neptune also perhaps providing a clue to poison as the cause.  A T-Square is formed with natal asteroid Velenia at 11 Pisces (for veleno, poison in Italian) on the fulcrum, squared the Sun/Anubis/Wolff conjunction, further reinforcing the case for poisoning.  Transit Saturn (death) and asteroid Putilin (Putin) conjoined Velenia when Navalny died.

Asteroid Yada (for yad, poison in Russian) at 20 Gemini is also within orb of the Sun/Anubis/Wolff conjunction, broadly conjoined at his death by the stationary transit asteroid Poisson at 29 Gemini, T-Squared by transit Velenia at 24 Virgo and the transit Alexandra/Neptune/Russia grouping in late Pisces.

Another T-Square alluding to the place of his death is anchored by an opposition from asteroids Alexandra and Atropos 273 (named for the Fate who severs the thread of life at death) at 6 and 8 Cancer, to asteroid Siberia at 4 Capricorn (the region where he died), with Pluto (modern lord of death, planetary ruler of homicide) on the fulcrum at 8 Libra.  A loose Grand Cross is created with the addition of asteroid Alex at 13 Aries.

We may never know the true manner of Alexei Navalny’s death, but even if from natural causes, it is Vladimir Putin who is responsible.  As such, it forms a small, but memorable portion of the blood on this tyrant’s hands.

Alex Miller

Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, whose website AlexAsteroidAstrology.com offers a trove of info on the role of asteroids in personal and mundane astrology. He is the author of The Black Hole Book (available on Amazon.com) and The Urban Wicca, former editor of “The Galactic Calendar,” and past president of The Philadelphia Astrological Society. His pioneering work with Black Holes in astrological interpretation began in 1991, when his progressed Sun unwittingly fell into one. Alex’s books and writings are available on his website. Alex can also be reached for comment or services at .