Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny found in a brutal Arctic jail weeks after disappearance
The most prominent foe of Russian president Vladimir Putin has been located at a prison colony above the Arctic Circle
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been found weeks after he disappeared, his associates said on Monday.
Mr Navalny, the most prominent foe of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has been discovered at a prison colony above the Arctic Circle nearly three weeks after contact with him was lost, his spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said on X, formerly Twitter.
Mr Navalny is serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. He was previously imprisoned in the Vladimir region of central Russia, about 230km (140 miles) east of Moscow, but his lawyers said they had not been able to reach him since 6 December.
Ms Yarmysh said he had been located in a prison colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenetsk region, about 1,900km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow. The region is notorious for its long and severe winters; the town is near Vorkuta, whose coal mines were among the harshest within the Soviet Gulag prison camp system.
“It is almost impossible to get to this colony; it is almost impossible to even send letters there. This is the highest possible level of isolation from the world,” Mr Navalny’s chief strategist, Leonid Volkov, said on X.
Transfers within Russia’s prison system are shrouded in secrecy, and inmates can disappear from contact for several weeks. Mr Navalny’s team was particularly alarmed when he could not be found, because he had been ill and was reportedly being denied food and kept in an unventilated cell.
Supporters believed he was being deliberately hidden after Mr Putin announced his intention to stand in Russia’s forthcoming presidential election, which will take place in March 2024. While Mr Putin’s re-election is all but certain, given his overwhelming control over the country’s political scene and a widening crackdown on dissent, Mr Navalny’s supporters and other critics hope to use the campaign to erode public support for the Russian leader and his military action in Ukraine.
Mr Navalny has been behind bars in Russia since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow from Germany, where he had been recuperating after being poisoned with a nerve agent – an incident he blamed on the Kremlin. Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption and organised major anti-Kremlin protests. He has since been sentenced to three prison terms, and spent months in isolation in Penal Colony No 6 for alleged minor infractions.
Mr Navalny has rejected all charges against him, describing them as politically motivated.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments