Critic of the Kremlin and slayer of corruption in Russia, opponent Alexeï Navalny died Friday February 16 in a remote colony in the Arctic, where he was serving a 19-year sentence for "extremism", announced the Russian prison services, specifying that “the causes of death are being established”.
The opponent's supporters were not informed of his death in prison, said his spokesperson Kira Iarmich, adding that one of their lawyers was going there.
Read alsoDeath of Alexeï Navalvy: follow the situation live
The official version
According to the Russian Prison Service (FSIN), Alexeï Navalny died on Friday after having a sudden illness.
“On February 16, 2024, in penitentiary center No. 3, prisoner Navalny AA felt unwell after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness,” the FSIN of the Arctic region of Iamal said in a statement.
“All the necessary resuscitation measures were carried out but did not give a positive result. The emergency doctors noted the death of the patient,” he said.
The hospital next to the prison, in the town of Labytnangui, announced that rescuers were sent to the scene within seven minutes after the prison camp was called.
“The doctors who arrived on site continued the resuscitation operations that had already been carried out by the prison doctors. They continued them for more than 30 minutes. However, the patient died,” he said.
The Russian head of state Vladimir Putin, traveling in the Urals on Friday, was “informed” of the death, declared his spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, but did not react.
Russian television briefly reported the death of Alexei Navalny.
Also read: Alexeï Navalny: a look back at the career of Vladimir Putin's number one opponent
Causes of death not established
“The causes of death are being established,” explained the prison services.
Alexeï Navalny narrowly survived in 2020 a poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok while he was on the electoral campaign in Siberia, which he and his supporters had attributed to the Kremlin.
Transferred in a coma to Germany for treatment, he chose to return to Russia after his convalescence and was immediately arrested. This poisoning, a hunger strike and repeated stays in solitary confinement had left a physical mark on him.
Incarcerated since January 2021, Alexeï Navalny was given yet another sentence last August: 19 years for “extremism” to be spent in one of the harshest establishments in the Russian prison system.
Navalny's latest appearances
This tall blond with piercing blue eyes appeared thin and aged during the remote broadcasts of the last hearings in which he was involved, the last way to see him.
State news agency Ria Novosti said Friday that he had participated by video in two court hearings in the Vladimir region the day before and had not complained about his health.
His mother, Lyoudmila Navalnaïa, claimed to have seen her son on February 12 in his penal colony and that he was then "in good health and in a happy mood", in a message on Facebook cited by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
Read alsoDetention of Alexeï Navalny: Russian penal colonies, legacy of the Soviet Gulag
The opponent's supporters, for their part, said they had not been informed of his death.
The prison services "announce the news of the death of Alexei Navalny in penal colony number 3. We do not yet have confirmation of this. Alexei's lawyer leaves by plane for Kharp (locality where the prison is located, Editor's note ).We will communicate as soon as we have information, wrote spokesperson Kira Iarmich on X (ex-Twitter).
With AFP
The France 24 summary of the week
invites you to look back at the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application