Russian pro-democracy activist Alexei Navalny, 47, died Friday in a Soviet-era gulag located north of the Arctic Circle, according to Russian prison authorities. Navalny leaves behind his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, and their two children.
Navalny reportedly fell ill and died while taking a walk. Navalny’s wife and lawyers await confirmation of his death. Navalny was an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin and had been persecuted for decades, poisoned and jailed.
Russian opposition leader Navalny felt ill during a walk, fainted and died soon after, according to the statement from the Russian prison services. https://t.co/6D5WU6GcJn pic.twitter.com/XEsPd4BX1u
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) February 16, 2024
Navalny’s team says they have no confirmation of his death. His lawyer is traveling to Kharp, the remote town in the Arctic Circle where Navalny was transferred last year.https: //t.co/XQqqUOMWNh
—maxseddon (@maxseddon) February 16, 2024
Navalny revealed in December that he had been secretly taken to the Polar Wolf gulag, after being sentenced in August to a further 19 years in prison for “extremism”. Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 after leaving for treatment in Germany for poisoning with the nerve agent aovichok. A timeline of Navalny’s poisoning, court battles and sentences can be read at this link.
Navalny reportedly died in the IK-3 prison, known as the “Polar Wolf,” above the Arctic Circle. pic.twitter.com/XxOkv9HGCI
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) February 16, 2024
A defiant Navalny appeared in court on Thursday where he taunted the judge, demanding he send money to his prison account.
Navalny appears healthy and in good spirits in the last known video allegedly taken during court proceedings a day before his death.
In it, Navalny addresses a judge via video link from his prison. pic.twitter.com/lUWjrPeybT
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) February 16, 2024
Via Telegram, reportedly the last photo of Navalny alive. pic.twitter.com/5Ro69j3bSa
— Valerie Hopkins (@VALERIEinNYT) February 16, 2024
Muscovites bravely lined up on Friday to lay flowers for Navalny:
Russians in Moscow lined up to lay flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny at a memorial to Gulag victims outside the FSB headquarters.
Considering the extent to which the Kremlin has cracked down on all dissent since invading Ukraine, this is not an insignificant crowd. https://t.co/L805SmdZPk
—maxseddon (@maxseddon) February 16, 2024
Yulia Navalnaya spoke about her husband’s death at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
“If this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they have done to our country, to my family.”
Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny’s wife speaks out after her husband’s death.
More: https://t.co/rZ0pCSkmIO
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/LymLXBIQgf
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 16, 2024
After a week of promoting Russia following his interview with Vladimir Putin, Tucker Carlson harshly condemned Navalny’s death.
Tucker Carlson on Alexei Navalny’s death in prison: ‘It’s horrible, barbaric and terrible – no decent person would defend him’https://t.co/rVeEnlx61z pic.twitter.com/dsfwFKoZUa
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 16, 2024
A younger, healthier and freer Navalny in 2007:
Alexey Navalny, July 2007, @RFERL Moscow office. Photo by Dmitry Borko. pic.twitter.com/UWvSMzlny6
— Mark Krutov (@kromark) February 16, 2024