VLADIMIR Putin’s top critic Alexei Navalny has died in a hellhole Siberia prison, Russia has claimed.
Prison officials today said the jailed Russian opposition leader, 47, collapsed inside the brutal Polar Wolf jail where he was being kept and could not be resuscitated.
Alexei Navalny has apparently died in a hellhole Russian prison
The last picture of Navalny behind bars in Russia – appearing via video link in court yesterday
Navalny – Putin’s number one critic – has long warned that the Kremlin is out to get him
Navalny with his wife Yulia – he sent her a heartfelt Valentine’s day message just days before his reported deathAP
Navalny, 47, was one of Putin’s greatest enemies and one of his leading domestic critics in Russia – taking on the tyrant over rampant corruption.
His reported death is a hammer blow to those working against Vlad – and comes just weeks before Putin is due to hold a sham election.
He was first picked up Vlad’s brutal police in 2021 after returning to Russia following an assassination attempt.
And after a sham trial found him guilty of trumped-up charges, the brave Putin challenger was locked up in a savage penal colony, with fears even then that he would not come out alive.
Navalny, who has suffered serious health problems in jail, was reportedly being held in solitary confinement when he died, the Human Rights Foundation claimed.
He went missing from a hellish Russian jail last year – and supporters warned then that he could be executed.
Navalny was later found in one of the toughest prisons in the country in Siberia – known as “the Polar Wolf” colony, his spokeswoman said.
A statement from prison officials read: “On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
They claimed that medical staff were called, but were not able to resuscitate him.
Navalny had sent a Valentines message to his wife Yulia, 47, just days ago from inside the Siberian prison.
The heartfelt letter 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.”
The life of Alexei Navalny, Putin’s biggest critic
HERE is a timeline that took the leader of the opposition from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin’s biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison and onto an early grave.
June 4, 1976 — Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region
1997 — Graduates from Russia’s RUDN university, where he majored in law
2004 — Forms a movement against rampant over-development in Moscow
2008 — Gains notoriety for calling out corruption in state-run corporation
December 2011 — Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russia’s election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official.”
March 2012 – Further mass protests break out and Navalny accuses key Kremlin cronies of corruption
July 2012 — Russia’s Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement. He rejects the claims and says they are politically motivated
2013 — Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow
July 2013 — A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison – he appeals and is allowed to continue campaign
September 2013 — Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayor’s race
February 2014 — Navalny is placed under house arrest
December 2014 — Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud
February 2016 — The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial
November 2016 — Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s sentence
December 2016 — Navalny announces he will run in Russia’s 2018 presidential election
February 2017 — The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013
April 2017 – Survives an assassination attempt he blames on Kremlin
December 2017 — Russia’s Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president
August, 2020 – Navalny falls into a coma on a flight and his team suspects he was poisoned. German authorities confirm he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent
Jan 2021 — After five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia
Feb 2021 — A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve 2 ½ years in prison
June 2021 — A Moscow court shuts down Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his extended political network
Feb 2022 — Russia invades Ukraine
March 2022 — Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court
2023 — Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what it calls abuse of Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication & suffering from slow poisoning
April, 2023 — Navalny from inside prison says he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life
Aug 2023 – A court in Russia extends Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years
Dec 2023 – He disappears from his prison as his team fear he could be assassination. He then reappears weeks later in one of Siberia’s toughest prisons – the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony
Today Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said she has had no confirmation of his death – but his lawyer is dashing to the jail to find out more.
She said: “The [prison service] in the Yamalo-Nenets region is spreading the news about the death of Alexei Navalny.
“We don’t have any confirmation of this yet.”
But critics of Putin have already come out to slam the Russian tyrant, dubbing Navalny’s reported death “political murder”.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today said: “This is terrible news. As the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life.
“My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy.”
He was seen for the last time yesterday in court – via video link. His head was shaved and he looked thin – but appeared to be keeping positive and even made some jokes.
The head of Navalny’s FBK party Maria Pevchikh had warned last year: “We are worried for his life.
“He’s in the hands of the very same people who tried to kill him before.
“If they once got an authorisation to murder Navalny, do they have another one now or is the last one still valid. Navalny’s life is constantly at a high risk.”
Navalny was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in August 2020, which he claimed was an assassination attempt by the Kremlin.
He was then thrown into prison for 19 years on trumped-up charges of extremism and fraud.
The Kremlin critic has previously warned of Putin’s desperation to silence him, after his team published a list of 200 oligarchs accused of being “directly responsible for the aggressive war launched against Ukraine.”
And a disturbing video interview earlier this year with him revealed he was suffering from mystery stomach aches, seizures and had lost 18lbs in less than a month – sparking fears of a slow poisoning.
An investigator also allegedly told him he was set to face a fresh trial over terrorism charges which could have led to imprisonment for life.
ReutersJailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, 47[/caption]
APProtesters gather outside the home of Russian ambassador Sergei Netshaev in Berlin on December 16 after Navalny’s disappearance[/caption]
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