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Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Dies in Prison

Navalny’s chief of staff said they cannot confirm rumors that the prisoner was murdered

Published: February 16, 2024
  |   By Chris Karr
Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Dies in Prison

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been pronounced dead by prison officials.


Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s most renowned critic, reportedly “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday, according to the prison service in the Yamalo-Nenets district of the Arctic Circle.

The service reported the 47-year-old lost consciousness almost immediately.

"The medical staff of the institution arrived immediately, and an ambulance team was called," the prison service said, per Reuters. "All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict.”

"The causes of death are being established,” the service added.

Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence based on extremism-related charged in addition to a 9-year sentence due to fraud and embezzlement charges, per NPR.

Though reports of the opposition leader’s death are widespread, Navalny’s chief of staff and spokesperson have not confirmed the details.

“We have no grounds to believe state propaganda,” Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff, reportedly wrote on X according to an English translation. “If it’s true, then it’s not ‘Navalny died,’ but ‘Putin killed Navalny,’ nothing else. But I don’t believe them for a second.”


“The Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is spreading the news of Alexey Navalny's death in IK-3,” Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh stated on X. “We have no confirmation of this yet. Alexey's lawyer is currently on his way to Kharp. As soon as we have some information, we will report on it.”


Video footage that appears to be watermarked from a court hearing yesterday shows Navalny in his penal colony. In the untranslated video, presently deemed to be the last known footage of Navalny, the prisoner appears to be somewhat emaciated, but laughing and smiling.


“Navalny, a longtime critic of President Vladimir Putin and his main political rival, survived a poisoning attempt with a nerve agent in August 2020 that the State Department said was carried out by agents of the Russian state. He had been jailed since returning to Russia in January 2021,” The Washington Post reports.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has been informed about Navalny’s death and said no further information was available, according to Latvian outlet Meduza.

"[Navalny] gained attention by focusing on corruption in Russia’s murky mix of politicians and businesses; one of his early moves was to buy a stake in Russian oil and gas companies to become an activist shareholder and push for transparency," AP News reports. "By concentrating on corruption, Navalny’s work had a pocketbook appeal to Russians’ widespread sense of being cheated, and he carried stronger resonance than more abstract and philosophical concerns about democratic ideals and human rights."

World leaders reacted to the news of Navalny’s death on X.








This is a developing story. Updates will soon follow.

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