Russian politician and Putin critic Alexei Navalny dies in prison: report

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died on Friday after collapsing and losing consciousness at the penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a long prison sentence, the Russian prison service said.

Navalny, by far Russia’s best-known opposition leader, rose to prominence more than a decade ago by criticizing the elite circle around President Vladimir Putin and alleging widespread corruption. He was 47 years old.

The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said in a statement that Navalny “felt unwell” after taking a walk at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharap, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.

Navalny lost consciousness almost immediately, the prison service said.

“The institution’s medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called,” the prison service said.

“All necessary resuscitation measures were taken, which did not yield positive results. Doctors in the ambulance pronounced the convict dead.”

“The cause of death is being ascertained.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been informed about Navalny’s death.

Navalny earned praise from Russia’s disparate opposition for voluntarily returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was treated, after Western laboratory tests revealed an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent.

Navalny said at the time that he was poisoned in Siberia in August 2020. The Kremlin denies trying to kill him and says there is no evidence he was poisoned with a nerve agent.