Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died Friday at the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year term, Russia’s federal penitentiary service said.
Navalny lost consciousness after going for a walk and could not be revived by medics, the prison service said.
“Navalny felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. Medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called,” it said.
“Resuscitation measures were carried out which did not yield positive results. Paramedics confirmed the death of the convict.
The causes of death are being established.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened an investigation into his death.
Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said his team had not been informed of his death.
“Alexei’s lawyer is now flying to Kharp,” where his prison colony is, she said in a post on social media.
Citing his spokesman, Russian news agencies reported that President Vladimir Putin had been informed of Navalny’s death.
Navalny, 47, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, won a huge following with his criticism of corruption in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
His exposes, posted on his YouTube channel racked up millions of views and brought tens of thousands of Russians to the streets, despite Russia’s harsh anti-protest laws.
He was jailed in early 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was recuperating from a near-fatal poisoning attack with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.
In a string of cases, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges widely condemned by independent rights groups and in the West as retribution for his opposition to the Kremlin.
Late last year he was moved to a removed Arctic prison colony in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets region in northern Siberia.
The last post on Navalny’s Telegram channel, which he managed through his lawyers and team in exile, was a tribute to his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, posted on Valentine’s Day.
“Between us there are cities [and] thousands of kilometres,” the post reads. “But I feel that you are near every second, and I love you more and more.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that if Navalny’s death is confirmed, it “only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built.”
“First and foremost, if these reports are accurate, our hearts go out to his wife and his family,” he says at the Munich security conference, adding that “Russia is responsible” if the death is confirmed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that if Navalny’s death is confirmed, it “only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built.”
“First and foremost, if these reports are accurate, our hearts go out to his wife and his family,” he says at the Munich security conference, adding that “Russia is responsible” if the death is confirmed.
“I don’t know whether I should believe this horrible news or not,” Navalny’s wife has said.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Yulia Navalnaya said the news of her husband’s death so far only came from state sources.
“We can’t really believe Putin and his government,” she says.
She then adds that if news of her husband’s death is true, Putin and his allies should bear personal responsibility for it and everything “they are doing to Russia”.
“I am asking everyone who is here to unite and help punish the Russian regime,” Navalnaya says.
Politicians from across the continent of Europe continue to react to Navalny’s death.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that in Russia “free spirits are sent to the Gulag and condemned to death” as he shared his “anger and indignation” in a post on X.
“I pay tribute to the memory of Alexei Navalny, his dedication, his courage. My thoughts go out to his family, loved ones and to the Russian people,” Macron added.
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