Jailed Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, who made global headlines when he was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020, has died aged 47, the Russian prison service said.
The cause of his reported death remained unclear, but the news drew a forceful reaction from Western leaders Friday, including US President Joe Biden, who pinned the blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that “what has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality.”
Navalny had returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. On arrival, Navalnvy was swiftly arrested on charges he dismissed as politically motivated.
He has been incarcerated ever since, with longstanding concerns for his welfare growing more intense after he was transferred to a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle.
The Russian prison service on Friday said Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” and “almost immediately” lost consciousness. It said it was investigating his “sudden death.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been informed of the reports and that it is for doctors to determine the cause of Navalny’s death.
Navalny is the latest in a long line of Putin critics who met an early death
“As far as we’re aware, in accordance with all the rules, the prison service is carrying out checks and clarifications,” Peskov told reporters. Asked about reports that the death involved a blood clot, he replied: “I don’t know. Doctors must find it out.”
The announcement shocked his family and supporters as Navalny had appeared in court via video link as recently as Thursday, joking with the judge about how he was running short of money.
Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, initially said the Putin critic’s lawyer was traveling to Kharp, where Navalny had been held since December.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, meanwhile, called for Putin to be brought to justice.
“I want them to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family, and with my husband,” she said in emotional remarks that prompted a standing ovation at the Munich Security Conference (MSC).
“They will be brought to justice and this day will come soon.”
An ambulance crew tried to resuscitate Navalny for more than half an hour on Friday, Labytnang City Hospital told state-run media RIA Novosti. It added the ambulance team reached the prison in less than seven minutes, and doctors reached the patient two minutes later.
“The doctors who arrived at the scene continued the resuscitation measures that the prison’s doctors had already provided. They carried them out for more than half an hour. However, the patient died,” the agency’s interlocutor said, according to RIA.
Lyudmila Navalnaya, Navalny’s mother, told Russian independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta she had last seen her son on February 12 – four days before his death – when he had been “alive, healthy and cheerful.” She said: “I don’t want to hear any condolences.”
