Russian opposition leader has passed away

According to the prison service, Alexei Navalny, the most prominent opposition figure in Russia over the previous ten years, passed away while incarcerated inside the Arctic Circle. Admired as the most outspoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin, Navalny was incarcerated for 19 years for crimes that were largely seen as politically motivated. Late last year, he was transferred to one of the harshest prisons—an Arctic penal colony. According to the Yamalo-Nenets district prison service, he “felt unwell” on Friday following a walk. In a statement, it was stated that he had “almost immediately lost consciousness” and that an emergency medical team had been contacted right away. They attempted to revive him but were unable. The prisoner was pronounced dead by the emergency physicians. The reason for the death is being determined.” Although Navalny’s close aide Leonid Volkov wrote on X, Navalny’s lawyer Leonid Solovyov told Russian media he would not be commenting just yet: “Russian authorities publish a confession that they killed Alexey Navalny in prison.” There is no way for us to verify it or show that this is untrue.” We’re updating this breaking news story, and more information will be available soon. To view the most recent version, please refresh the page.

An annoyance to the Kremlin

With Navalny’s passing, the Russian opposition, battered by years of intimidation and prosecution, is left without a definite leader. The most well-known opponents of Putin are currently all either dead, imprisoned, or living abroad. Without a doubt, Navalny posed the greatest challenge to the Kremlin.  He organized nationwide demonstrations against the government for over ten years, stood for election to oppose members of the Russian establishment, and established a network of campaign offices that have since been dismantled. In the first video link from the new prison, Russia’s Navalny makes jokes about the “naked party.” Navalny was last seen from an Arctic prison colony on January 10 via a video link. 

Navalny was educated as a lawyer and economist after being born in the small town of Bytyn, close to Moscow, in 1976. He entered politics in 2008 and established his anti-corruption fund, FBK, three years later.  He was well-known for his persuasive speeches and for using the internet to disseminate his vision of the “wonderful Russia of tomorrow” and the findings of his research. Because of his digital savvy, he was especially well-liked by Russia’s younger, more democratically inclined adults.  Navalny became well-known as the most vocal opponent of the Kremlin in Russia after spearheading several anti-corruption inquiries into Russian elite members. Large-scale demonstrations followed his 2017 revelation of former prime minister and president Dmitry Medvedev’s opulent lifestyle. And in 2021, an investigation into a lavish “secret palace” on Russia’s Black Sea coast that was allegedly owned by Putin sparked a national outcry.  When Navalny attempted to challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential contest, he was disqualified due to a 2014 embezzlement conviction, which he vehemently denied being made up in order to keep him out of politics. To avoid putting Navalny in the public eye, Russian officials took pains to avoid using his name. In August 2020, while on a business trip in Russia, Navalny was the victim of a military nerve agent poisoning attempt, which he directly attributed to Putin.

What kind of punishment did Navalny receive for criticising the Kremlin?

Speaking out against corruption in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Alexei Navalny predicted the unavoidable backlash he would encounter, declaring, “I am in the very blackest part of the black list.” Mr. Navalny endured physical assaults, several arrests, inquiries, and legal actions throughout the years. He was flown to Germany in a coma for life-saving medical attention following the attempted assassination in Russia using Novichok poisoning. His attorneys and family have previously claimed that while he was incarcerated, he had a severe stomach ailment that was going undiagnosed. This, along with overall deprivation, has resulted in concerning weight loss and episodes of fainting.

After the poisoning, he had gone back to Russia even though friends and allies had warned him it would be extremely risky. After being detained at the airport, he appeared in court and was given a two and a half-year sentence that was previously suspended for fraud. This was just a ploy by the government’s prosecutors to delay their case. He was found guilty of using public donations to his Anti-Corruption Foundation for “extremism and personal needs” and was given a nine-year prison sentence in August 2022. He was given a further 19 years in prison on a number of “extremism”-related charges in August of this year. Additional charges were owed, this time for “vandalism.”

Putin was embarrassed by Navalny’s probe into the palace

Alexei Navalny did not hesitate to aim high as his support grew, accusing Vladimir Putin of overseeing a system of “feudal patronage” with enormous benefits. Putin’s Palace: The Story of the World’s Biggest Bribe, a documentary he presented, looked into the construction of a £1.35 billion opulent mansion in the Krasnodar region, purportedly for the president. Despite the claim being refuted by the Kremlin, the video received over 110 million views worldwide. Additionally, Mr. Navalny brought up the security apparatus’s operations and the predicament of Russians rebelling against the government. “People are continuously being arrested without a warrant in Russia; we have become accustomed to injustice,” he remarked. “I am in the very blackest part of the blacklist,” he said, anticipating the unavoidable retaliation he would encounter.

Navalny had called on Russians to confront corruption in the Kremlin

After charging Vladimir Putin and those in his inner circle with corruption and abuse, Alexei Navalny gained notoriety and became a target for the Kremlin. He called the president a “madman” and the people in power “crooks and thieves. In an appeal to citizens, Mr. Navalny said, Everyone says corruption is everywhere but for me, it seems strange to say that and then not try to put the people guilty of corruption away.” Instead of just lamenting Russia’s ills, he urged people to take action. Though there were doubts about the legitimacy of the election, he managed to secure 27% of the vote when running for mayor of Moscow in 2013.