Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison, Interfax news agency reported, citing the Russian Federal Penal Service (FSIN), which manages the country’s prisons and detention facilities.
According to an FSIN statement cited by Interfax, Navalny “complained of feeling unwell after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness.” Medical teams were reportedly unable to revive him, and an investigation is underway. There is no mention of the cause of death.
Navalny, 47, was a lawyer and anti-corruption activist known for being a sharp critic of President Putin. His friends and lawyers posted on social media in December that they had lost contact with him. About three weeks later, it was confirmed that he had been transferred from a prison on the outskirts of Moscow to a remote camp in the Arctic Circle.
The removal of one of the most charismatic and popular opponents of Putin’s regime is bound to further heighten tensions between the Russian government and the West. Relations between Russia and the West are already at their lowest point in decades due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Alexei Navalny (2019)
Photographer:Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
Navalny attracted public attention in a February 2011 radio interview in which he characterized Putin’s ruling party, United Russia, as a collection of “crooks and thieves.” At the end of the same year, he took the lead in street demonstrations sparked by allegations of large-scale fraud in the parliamentary elections, and emerged as a leading figure opposed to the Putin regime.
Furthermore, he continued to expose the lavish lifestyles of senior government officials on the video-sharing site YouTube. In particular, a 2017 video showing a luxury property believed to be owned by then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev caused an uproar when it was viewed more than 25 million times.
Meanwhile, in August 2020, he was attacked with a nerve agent and his life was in danger. Navalny and Western governments blamed the attack on Putin’s secret forces. In January of the following year, he was receiving treatment in Germany and returned to Russia, knowing he would be imprisoned, but was detained immediately after his return.
Original title:Alexey Navalny, Jailed Activist Who Defied Putin, Dies at 47(excerpt)
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