The Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has passed away while in custody, as confirmed by the country's prison service. Navalny, aged 47, a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, was imprisoned in a facility located approximately 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a 19-year sentence under a particularly strict regime. In a video recorded at the prison in January, he appeared emaciated with a shaved head.
The Kremlin has stated that they are not aware of the circumstances surrounding his death. In early December, Navalny went missing from a prison in the Vladimir region, where he was serving a 30-year term on charges of extremism and fraud that he believed were politically motivated retaliation for his opposition activities against the Kremlin in the 2010s. He had not anticipated being released while Putin was still in power.
Initially associated with nationalist politics, Navalny played a significant role in instigating protests in Russia between 2011 and 2012 by highlighting electoral malpractice and governmental corruption. He conducted investigations into Putin's inner circle, producing polished videos that garnered millions of views. His political pinnacle was in 2013 when he secured 27% of the vote in a Moscow mayoral election widely considered to be neither free nor fair. Despite facing opposition from the Kremlin, Navalny continued to challenge the government, uncovering a palace allegedly constructed for Putin's personal use on the Black Sea, as well as properties and vessels utilized by former President Dmitry Medvedev and revealing connections between a high-ranking foreign policy official and a prominent oligarch through a sex worker.
In 2020, Navalny fell into a coma following a suspected novichok poisoning orchestrated by Russia's FSB security service. He was subsequently airlifted to Germany for medical treatment and eventually recuperated. Upon his return to Russia in January 2021, he was arrested for violating parole conditions and subsequently sentenced to multiple jail terms totaling over 30 years.
Putin has initiated a campaign for his fifth presidential term. Already the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, he may surpass Stalin's tenure if he chooses to run for office again in 2030, given that he orchestrated changes to the constitutional term limit regulations in 2020.
