Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition, passed away on Friday, the Russian prison service reported, after passing out and fainting at the prison colony located north of the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a lengthy sentence.
By far the most well-known opposition figure in Russia, Navalny gained notoriety over ten years ago by criticizing President Vladimir Putin and the elite class around him and making widespread accusations of corruption. His age was 47.
Navalny “felt unwell” on a stroll at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, around 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, according to a statement from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District’s Federal Penitentiary Service.
According to the jail authorities, Navalny lost consciousness practically instantly.
According to the prison service, “an ambulance team was called, and the institution’s medical staff arrived immediately.”
“All required resuscitation procedures were performed; however, no beneficial outcomes were obtained. The prisoner’s death was declared by the ambulance’s doctors.”
“The causes of death are being established.”
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said that Putin has been informed about Navalny’s passing.
Russia’s divided opposition praised Navalny for willingly leaving Germany in 2021 to receive treatment for what Western laboratory testing revealed was an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent.
At the time, Navalny claimed that in August 2020, he was poisoned in Siberia. The Kremlin stated there was no proof he was nerve agent poisoned and denied attempting to kill him.
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