Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin critic and Russian Opposition leader, dead: Report
Navalny died in prison inside the Arctic Circle. The prison service in the Yamalo-Nenets district said he had "felt unwell" after a walk on Friday. The report cited Federal Penitentiary Service as saying, "After a walk on February 16 the convict did not feel well and fainted almost instantly.
The facility’s medical staff arrived immediately, an ambulance was called." "All necessary resuscitation procedures have been carried out without any positive results. The ambulance crew pronounced the convict dead, the cause of death is being established," the report added. On its Telegram channel, Tass news reported that investigators are carrying out an inspection over the fact of Alexei Navalny’s death in the penal colony.
However, Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh said in an update on the X, “We don’t have any confirmation of this yet. Alexei's lawyer is now flying to Kharp. As soon as we have any information, we will report it." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told Reuters that Russia's penitentiary service was making all checks regarding Navalny's death, but that he had no information about the matter.
Mint could not independently verify the report. Earlier TASS news agency quoted US President Joe Biden as saying, "I made it clear to him (Russian President Vladimir Putin) that I believe the consequences of that (Navalny’s death in prison) would be devastating to Russia." Seen as Putin's critic, Navalny was serving a 19-year jail term on charges of extremism. He was moved to a prison in north of the Arctic Circle, which is considered one of the toughest jails.
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