LONDON — Alexei Navalny, the longtime Russian opposition politician and critic of Vladimir Putin — often considered to be a vocal and prominent thorn in the side of the Russian government — has died in prison at age 47, according to the prison service.
“On 02/16/2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convicted Navalny A.A. felt ill after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. The medical staff of the institution immediately arrived, and an ambulance team was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not give positive results. The doctors of the emergency medical service pronounced the convict dead,” the release says.
Not long after the Russian government said Navalny had died, Navalny’s spokeswoman said that — for now — they have no confirmation of his death and that they will address the public as soon as they have more information.
(FILES) Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands inside a glass cell during a court hearing at the Babushkinsky district court in Moscow on February 20, 2021. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison, Russian agencies announced on February 16, 2024.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
“For now we have no confirmation of that. Alexey’s lawyer is flying now. As soon as we will have any kind of information we will provide it,” Kyra Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman wrote on X.
Navalny was being held in an Arctic prison camp, after being transferred there in December.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed.
The White House is trying to confirm Navalny’s death on their side — but for now National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “If it’s confirmed, it is a terrible tragedy.”
“Given the Russian government’s long and sordid history of doing harm to its opponents, it raises real and obvious questions about what happened here,” Sullivan said on NPR this morning. “But I’ll withhold further comments on it until we learn more and we are actively seeking confirmation as I know, Mr. Navalny’s family is as well and we’ll determine from there what – what comes next.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
