Opposition Leader Was ‘Cheerful’ Shortly Before Collapsing, Dying in Arctic Prison

Alexei Navalny, the anti-Putin Russian opposition leader, has died while walking in an Arctic prison, but the cause of death was not released.

That’s according to Russia’s Federal Prison Service, which released a statement saying that Navalny died on February 16 “after feeling unwell following a walk,” NBC News reported.

The statement was posted to the prison service’s website in Russian; a copy of the original message was posted by Sky News.

His cause of death was not released. However, he was poisoned in the past, which will raise concerns.

Here’s what you need to know:

The Russian Statement, Which Did Not Reveal a Cause of Death, Says That Alexei Navalny ‘Felt Unwell After a Walk’

GettyRussian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia.

The Russian statement said that Navalny lost consciousness while on a walk. Reuters published a full translation of the statement about Navaly.

“On February 16, 2024, in penal colony No. 3, convict A.A. Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness,” the statement reads.

“The facility’s medical workers immediately arrived at the scene and an emergency medical team was called in. All necessary resuscitation measures have been carried out, but they did not yield positive results. Emergency medics confirmed the death of the convict,” the statement added.

The statement did not reveal Navalny’s cause of death but said a “procedural investigation” was being launched.

According to CNN, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila Navalnaya told Novaya Gazeta that she saw her son Monday and he was “healthy and cheerful.”

“I don’t want to hear any condolences. We saw our son in the prison on the 12th – we were on a visit. He was alive, healthy, and cheerful,” she said to CNN.

Alexei Navalny Was Poisoned by a Military Nerve Agent in 2020

GettyJailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link from the IK-3 penal colony above the Arctic circle during a hearing of his complaint on restrictions placed on which books and reading material he can access in prison, at the Supreme Court in Moscow on January 11, 2024.

Navalny was serving a more than 30-year prison sentence, according to NBC News.

He had disappeared in December, but later turned up “at a high-security penal colony in a remote town above the Arctic Circle,” NBC News reported.

In 2020, Navalny “was poisoned with a military nerve agent while on a business trip in Russia,” blaming the attack on Putin, NBC News reported.

Vice President Kamala Harris called the reports “terrible news,” adding “Russia is responsible” for Navalny’s death.

“We’ve all just received reports that Alexei Navalny has died in Russia. This is, of course, terrible news, which we are working to confirm,” Harris said, according to CNN.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death, saying, according to CNN, “Alexei Navalny died in a Russian prison – it is obvious for me that he was killed.”

In 2021, President Joe Biden warned Russia of “devastating consequences” if Navalny died in prison, according to CNN.

“I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia,” Biden said then, CNN reported.

“What do you think happens when he’s saying it’s not about hurting Navalny, all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny, and then he dies in prison?” said Biden, according to CNN.

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