Alexei Navalny, a strong political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin who survived at least two suspected poisonings, has died in a Russian penal colony, Russian prison authorities said Friday. Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service office for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District reported his death, saying he “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness “almost immediately.”
“Medical staff from the institution arrived immediately and an emergency medical team was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out but did not yield positive results,” the prison authorities said in a statement. “Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the convict.”
“We all just received reports that Alexei Navalny has died in Russia,” Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. “This is of course terrible news that we are working to confirm. My prayers are with his family, including his wife Julia, who is with us today, and if confirmed, it would be another sign of Putin's brutality. Whatever the story.” They say, let’s be clear: Russia is responsible. And we’ll have more to say about that later.”
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“For more than a decade, the Russian government, Putin, persecuted, poisoned and imprisoned Alexei Navalny, and now there are reports of his death,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday. “If these reports are true, our thoughts are with his wife and family. Furthermore, his death in a Russian prison and one man's fixation and fear only underscores the weakness and decay at the heart of the system that Putin has in place.” Russia is responsible for this. “We will speak to the many other countries that are concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports prove true,” Blinken said.
Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said her team was unable to confirm information provided by the prison service.
“The Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug spreads the news of the death of Alexei Navalny in IK-3. We don't have confirmation of this yet. Alexei's lawyer is currently on the way to Kharp. As soon as we know some information, we will report on it,” said Yarmysh said on social media. The IK-3 penal colony is located about 1,200 miles from Moscow in the remote Ural region of Russia's far north.
Leonid Volkov, Navalny's chief of staff, said on social media that his team had “no reason to believe in state propaganda. If that's true, then it's not 'Navalny died', it's 'Putin killed Navalny' and only that.” But I don't trust them for a cent.”
Russian opposition politician, anti-corruption activist and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) Alexei Navalny is seen on screen as he appealed against his nine-year prison sentence at the Moscow City Court on May 24, 2022 Moscow, Russia. Contributor/Getty
Navalny appeared via video link in a Russian court on Thursday, where he appeared cheerful and healthy, according to local media. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Putin had been informed of Navalny's death and told reporters that “it should be up to doctors to clarify the cause.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that it would be a “terrible tragedy” if Navalny's death were confirmed and that it would raise questions about what happened to him. He said the U.S. government is still seeking information and will decide what comes next based on the bigger picture.
Who was Alexei Navalny?
Alexey Navalny, 47, was the harshest critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin's government before he was jailed in Russia in 2021. He was initially sentenced to nine years in a high-security prison about 150 miles east of Moscow for parole violations. Fraud and contempt of court when he was convicted of promoting “extremism.” This sentence was extended by 19 years in August 2023.
Navalny and many outside observers always viewed the allegations against him as retaliation for his criticism of Putin and the Kremlin's foreign and domestic policies. The US State Department also viewed his prosecution and detention as “politically motivated”.
Navalny criticized Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Just a month into it, he called Putin a “madman” who had started a “stupid war” and said Russia's leaders would “burn in hell” for their actions.
He was born in 1976 in Butyn, a village west of Moscow, and grew up in a town about 60 miles from the capital. In 1997 he completed his law degree at the Russian Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow and in 2010 spent a year in the USA as a Yale World Fellow.
At this time he began his public opposition to the Kremlin.
The politician Navalny and the poisonings
Navalny unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Moscow in 2013 and condemned an election he said was rigged by his opponent, a Putin ally. He described the Russian president's party as one of “crooks and thieves,” which became a rallying cry for his millions of Twitter and YouTube followers and a thorn in Putin's side.
He tried to challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential election, but the Kremlin banned him from running due to a previous fraud conviction that Navalny said was politically motivated.
Then, after being jailed for organizing an “unauthorized protest” in 2019, Navalny suddenly fell ill. Russian doctors called his illness “contact dermatitis,” but Navalny and his personal doctor suspected he had been poisoned. Two years earlier he had been attacked with a green dye that caused a severe chemical burn in his right eye.
When he spoke to “60 Minutes” this year, he wondered why he was still alive.
“Maybe they missed their good timing when I was less famous,” Navalny said.
White House expresses concern after jailed activist not heard from in “nearly a week.”
Then, in the summer of 2020, the anti-corruption activist became scared to death during a flight. His plane had to make an emergency landing in Siberia. Initially, Navalny, who had fallen into a coma, was not allowed to leave the country. Russia said it was a purely medical decision but its team feared the worst.
After 48 hours, the Kremlin allowed Navalny to be flown by air ambulance to a Berlin hospital known for its experience with poison attack victims. Doctors there confirmed that he had been poisoned with Novichok, a highly toxic nerve agent said to be ten times more powerful than sarin gas.
After a dramatic recovery, Navalny blamed Putin for the attack, telling “60 Minutes” he was “sure he was responsible.”
Navalny's defiant return to Russia
Despite the danger, Navalny decided to return to Russia in January 2021, which however denied any involvement in his illness. After his return, he was arrested at a Moscow airport and charged with violating the terms of a previous suspended sentence by failing to report to prison officials in Germany. According to the Associated Press, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demand his release.
A Russian court sentenced him to serve the remaining 32 months of that sentence.
“My life is not worth a cent, but I will do everything I can so that the law prevails,” Navalny said at the time.
While in prison, he went on a hunger strike for 24 days – a protest against the perceived lack of adequate medical care. He ended the strike after saying he was examined by doctors outside the prison. Thousands of people took to the streets again to support him.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny ends hunger strike
In April 2021, his wife Yulia told “60 Minutes” that no matter what came next for her husband, “Alexey has already won.”
“He survived this terrible poisoning and returned to Moscow to face those who tried to murder him,” she said. “Putin knows it. His advisors, his friends, his government, everyone in his inner circle knows it.”
In March 2022, Navalny was found guilty of fraud and contempt of court and sentenced to nine additional years in a penal colony in a maximum security prison. He again described the allegations as unfounded and politically motivated.
In August 2023, a court extended his sentence by another 19 years, and a few months later Navalny was transferred to a high-security prison with a reputation for abuse – known as a “torture conveyor belt” – raising further concerns about his security.
“Without public protection, Alexei will face those who have already tried to kill him, and nothing will stop them from trying again,” his spokeswoman Yarmysh said after the court decision in March. “That’s why now we’re talking not only about Alexey’s freedom, but also about his life.”
In December 2023, Navalny's supporters said they lost contact with him for two weeks as he appeared to be moved elsewhere in the Russian prison system, adding to already serious concerns about his well-being.
Navalny leaves behind his wife Julia and their two children Daria and Zakhar.
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Haley Ott