Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in jail, Russian reports claimed today, citing the Siberian prison service where he was serving his sentence.
Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s staunchest domestic critic who once survived an assassination attempt involving the Novichok nerve agent, was serving time on charges of extremism after being sentenced to 19 years in prison.
‘On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness,’ said a statement.
Medical workers from the institution arrived immediately and an emergency medical team was called, it added, saying that necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but did not yield positive results.
‘Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the convict,’ the department claimed.
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is dead, the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence said on Friday
Navalny is seen on a screen via video link from a penal colony in the Vladimir Region during a hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia April 26, 2023
Navalny, Vladimir Putin ‘s staunchest domestic critic, was serving time on charges of extremism after being sentenced to 19 years in prison
Navalny’s spokesperson said on the X social media platform that she was unable to confirm his death, which was reported by the country’s prison service earlier.
Kira Yarmysh said that Navalny’s lawyer was travelling to the site of the prison where he had been serving his sentence.
Leonid Volkov, a Navalny aide, said: ‘The Federal Penitentiary Service in the Yamalo-Nenets District is disseminating news about the death of Alexei Navalny in IK-3.
‘We don’t have any confirmation of this yet. Alexey’s lawyer is now flying to Kharp. As soon as we have any information, we will report it.’
Russia’s TASS news agency reported that Navalny did not complain about health problems before his apparent death.
Putin has been informed about his rival’s death, his spokesman confirmed.
Dmitry Peskov said: ‘As far as we know, in line with all the existing rules, the FSIN [prison service] are running all the checks and establishing… all of that. No orders are needed for that because there is a certain set of rules for these occasions.’
Asked if it was true there was a blood clot, he said: ‘I don’t know, I don’t know…. The medics should establish.’
The 47-year-old was last seen in January when he was moved to a Russian penal colony in the Arctic Circle, smiling and laughing while in court via video-link.
The hearing was for one of many lawsuits he filed against the penal colony – this particular one challenged one of his stints in a ‘punishment cell’.
At the hearing, Navalny cracked jokes about the Arctic weather and asked if officials at his former prison threw a party when he was transferred.
His allies decried the transfer to a colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region about1,200 miles northeast of Moscow, as yet another attempt to force Navalny into silence.
The remote region is notorious for long and severe winters. Kharp is about 60 miles from Vorkuta, whose coal mines were part of the Soviet gulag prison-camp system.
Navalny (pictured with his wife Yulia Navalnaya) miraculously survived a suspected assassination attempt with a nerve agent in August 2020 during a flight. He was evacuated to a hospital in Germany, and the use of a Novichok nerve agent was later confirmed.
After being poisoned, Navalny was evacuated to a hospital in Germany. The use of a Novichok nerve agent was later confirmed in a lab
Navalny miraculously survived a suspected assassination attempt with a nerve agent in August 2020 during a flight. He was evacuated to a hospital in Germany, and the use of a Novichok nerve agent was later confirmed.
Despite knowing he would be detained, the father of two returned to Russia in January 2021. He has been behind bars ever since, and has received three prison sentences, all of which he rejected as politically motivated.
Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption, organised major anti-Kremlin protests and ran for public office.
Since then, he had spent months in isolation at Prison Colony No. 6 before his transfer to IK-6. He was repeatedly placed in a tiny punishment cell over alleged minor infractions, like buttoning his prison uniform wrong.
They also refused to give him his mail, deprived him of writing supplies, denied him food he had ordered and paid for in addition to regular meals, and would not allow visits from relatives, Navalny argued in his lawsuits, challenging his treatment.
In his last post Navalny had sent a Valentine’s message to his wife Yulia, 47.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, his wife Yulia, daughter Daria and son Zakhar pose for a picture outside a polling station during the Moscow city parliament election in Moscow, Russia September 8, 2019
It read: ‘Baby, everything is like in a song with you: between us there are cities, the take-off lights of airfields, blue snowstorms and thousands of kilometres. But I feel that you are near every second, and I love you more and more.’
Navalny’s reported death comes a month before Russia’s presidential elections, which will run from March 15 to March 17.
Putin is widely expected to win, keeping him in power until at least 2030.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow…