Alexei Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition leader and fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, reportedly died in a Russian prison at the age of 47. Russia’s prison agency confirmed his death on Friday.
What Happened: Navalny, who was known for his anti-corruption activism and large-scale anti-Kremlin protests, passed away in prison on Friday, the Associated Press reported. The Federal Prison Service stated that Navalny fell ill after a walk and subsequently lost consciousness. Despite efforts to revive him, he did not survive.
Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. He had been moved to a high-security penal colony in the town of Kharp, located in the Yamalo-Nenets region, which is known for its harsh winters. His transfer was widely criticized as an attempt to silence him.
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The opposition leader had been in prison since January 2021, following his return to Moscow from Germany, where he was receiving treatment for a nerve agent poisoning he accused the Kremlin of orchestrating. His arrest was met with international condemnation.
Why It Matters: Navalny’s death comes after a period of uncertainty surrounding his whereabouts. In December 2023, the opposition leader had reportedly vanished from the IK-6 penal colony in the Vladimir region, where he was serving his sentence. His lawyer was informed that Navalny was "no longer listed" in the prison, leaving his current location unknown.
His associates were unable to contact him for six days, adding to the uncertainty surrounding his situation. This development came as Navalny’s aides anticipated a possible transfer to a harsher-regime facility after he was sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison in August.
Navalny’s health had been a matter of concern since the poisoning incident in 2020 when he fell into a coma. Despite this, he was arrested upon his return to Russia and subsequently received multiple prison sentences, all of which he denounced as politically motivated.
Photo by Michał Siergiejevicz on Wikimedia Commons
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