AP
Aleksei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, has died in a remote prison near the Arctic Circle, the country’s penitentiary system announced on Friday.
According to authorities, Navalny lost consciousness during a walk at the penal colony, where he had been imprisoned over charges of extremism. The high-security prison, known as “Polar Wolf,” is regarded as one of Russia’s harshest. “All necessary resuscitation measures were taken, which did not lead to positive results,” Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement, the New York Times reported.
In April 2023, Navalny, who had already been serving a 9-year prison sentence over charges of fraud and embezzlement after surviving a 2020 assassination attempt by a nerve agent, was sentenced to 19 more years on extreme-related charges. He was widely regarded as Putin’s fiercest critic and generational leader against Kremlin corruption.
Navalny’s most recent social media post, a Valentine’s Day tribute to his wife, appeared on Wednesday. In January, Navalny relayed another post to social media informing the world that prison authorities had isolated him to a cell over a minor infraction. “Torturing me in the punishment confinement was not only cowardly, naive as well,” he said.
In 2021, thousands marched in opposition to Navalny’s jailing. And from his cell, the opposition leader had called for worldwide protests to push for the end of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
