Russian Opposition Leader Navalny has Died, Prison service Says
The prison service has announced the demise of Alexei Navalny, the prominent opposition figure in Russia, who has been a key figure in opposition for the last ten years, while he was incarcerated within the Arctic Circle.
Recognized as the most outspoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin, Navalny was imprisoned for 19 years on charges widely believed to be politically motivated.
Late last year, he was transferred to a harsh prison in the Arctic, rumored to be one of Russia’s most challenging penal colonies.
The prison service in the Yamalo-Nenets district said Navalny had “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday.
He had “almost immediately lost consciousness”, it said in a statement, adding that an emergency medical team had immediately been called and tried to resuscitate him but without success.
“The emergency doctors declared the prisoner dead. Cause of death is being established.”
Navalny’s lawyer Leonid Solovyov told Russian media he would not be commenting yet, although his close aide Leonid Volkov wrote on X: “Russian authorities publish a confession that they killed Alexei Navalny in prison. We do not have any way to confirm it or to prove this isn’t true.”
Shortly after the prison service declared Navalny’s demise, the global community praised the bravery of Vladimir Putin’s primary domestic opponent.
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France claimed that he sacrificed his life in opposition to Russian “oppression,” whereas the foreign minister of Norway asserted that Russian authorities held a significant responsibility for his demise.
Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said merely that Navalny’s death had been “reported to the president”, who was on a visit to the city of Chelyabinsk.
The majority of those who oppose the Russian president have left the country, but Alexei Navalny came back in January 2021 following an extended period of medical care. In August 2020, he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent after a journey to Siberia.
His team managed to arrange specialized medical treatment for him in Germany. Upon his return to Moscow, he was promptly detained and would remain in jail for the subsequent 37 months, with no prospect of release.
Navalny had been aiming to contest against Vladimir Putin in the electoral arena for a considerable time, yet he was prevented from participating in the 2018 presidential election. In the upcoming month, Russia’s leader will face no substantial opposition, standing uncontested.
Boris Nadezhdin, the candidate advocating for peace, was disqualified from participating in the election due to alleged discrepancies detected in the numerous signatures provided to endorse his candidacy.
Russian Opposition Leader Navalny has Died, Prison service Says
