Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died on Friday in the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year-term, Russia’s federal penitentiary service said. Western governments immediately attacked the Kremlin over the death of the most outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin. Navalny lost consciousness after a walk and could not be revived by doctors, 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.” The 47-year-old was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and won a huge following with his criticism of corruption in Putin’s Russia. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened an investigation into the 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 Putin had been informed of Navalny’s death. Navalny did not appear to have any health complaints when speaking by video link to a court on Thursday, state media reported. He did not complain about his health and “spoke actively, presenting arguments in defence of his position”, a regional court from the city of Vladimir, to the east of Moscow, told the RIA news agency. Separately, a German lawyer for Navalny said he seemed “fit and strong” during the hearing one day before his death on Friday in an Arctic prison colony. Attorney Nikolaos Gazeas told the daily Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger he was stunned by the news of Navalny’s death after seeing images of him participating by video link in the Russian court hearing. Putin foe Alexei Navalny has 19 years added to his prison term “He made a fit and strong impression as usual,” he said, adding that a Russian colleague had visited Navalny on Wednesday while another was currently on his way to his prison to learn more about the circumstances of his death. Gazeas said he would wait to make further comment on the case “out of consideration for the interests of Alexei Navalny’s family”. Western governments and Russian opposition figures on Friday said the Kremlin was responsible for his death. The United States said Navalny’s death, if confirmed, would be “a terrible tragedy”. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan added the Kremlin’s “long and sordid” history of harming its opponents “raises real and obvious questions about what happened here”. Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday there were “serious questions” for the Kremlin to answer Navalny’s death. Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics said Navalny had been “brutally murdered by the Kremlin”. “The Russian government bears a heavy responsibility,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide wrote on X, formerly Twitter. France’s foreign minister said Navalny had paid with his life for resisting oppression. The European Union said on Friday it held Russia solely responsible for Navalny’s death. “Alexei Navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy. For his ideals, he made the ultimate sacrifice,” European Council President Charles Michel posted on X. “The EU holds the Russian regime for sole responsible for this tragic death.” Navalny’s 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-protests 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. His return to Russia despite facing jail put him on a collision course with Putin, after Navalny blamed the poisoning attack in Siberia on the Kremlin. “I’m not afraid and I call on you not to be afraid,” he said in an appeal to supporters as he landed in Moscow, moments before being detained on charges linked to an old fraud conviction. His 2021 arrest spurred some of the largest demonstrations Russia had seen in decades, and thousands were detained at rallies nationwide calling for his release. In prison, Navalny’s team said he had been harassed and repeatedly moved to a punitive solitary confinement cell. He said guards had subjected him and other inmates to “torture by Putin”, making them listen to the president’s speeches. From behind bars, he was a staunch opponent of Moscow’s full-scale military offensive against Ukraine. The Kremlin moved to dismantle his organisation, locking up his allies and sending dozens of others into exile. Late last year, he was moved to a remove 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. Yulia said Putin must be brought to justice over the “atrocities” he has wrought against his country and Navalny’s family. “I’d like Putin and all his staff... to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family and with my husband,” she told the Munich Security Conference on Friday. “We should fight this horrific regime in Russia today. Vladimir Putin should be personally held for all the atrocities they have committed in our country in the last years.” In Munich, Navalnaya met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who extended his condolences to her, and reiterated that Russia is “responsible” for his death. Navalny’s mother, Liumila Navalnaya, said however that she did not want to “hear any condolences”. “I saw my son on the 12th at the [prison] colony, we had a meeting. He was alive, healthy and cheerful.” she wrote on Facebook, according to Novaya Gazeta newspaper. Russia’s foreign ministry has accused the US of making “sweeping accusations” over who was to blame for Navalny’s death.