Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Dies in Prison: Alleged Political Assassination Linked to Putin

The Russian opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, has reportedly passed away while in prison, according to the country’s prison service. This event is likely to be perceived as a politically motivated assassination attributed to Vladimir Putin.

Navalny, aged 47, was known as one of Putin’s most vocal critics and had been serving a 19-year sentence under a “special regime” in a jail located approximately 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle. In a video released from the prison in January, Navalny appeared emaciated with a shaven head.

The Kremlin has stated that it lacks information regarding the cause of Navalny’s death.

In early December, Navalny had disappeared from a prison in the Vladimir region, where he was serving a 30-year sentence on charges of extremism and fraud that he claimed were politically motivated retaliation for his leadership in the anti-Kremlin opposition movements of the 2010s. Navalny had expressed skepticism about being released during Putin’s lifetime.

Initially, a nationalist politician, Navalny played a significant role in fueling the 2011-12 protests in Russia by campaigning against electoral fraud and government corruption. He conducted investigations into Putin’s inner circle, sharing his findings through polished videos that amassed hundreds of millions of views.

His political apex occurred in 2013 when he secured 27% of the vote in a Moscow mayoral election widely believed to lack fairness and freedom. Navalny continued to challenge the Kremlin, uncovering details such as a palace constructed on the Black Sea purportedly for Putin’s personal use, as well as properties and assets associated with former President Dmitry Medvedev and connections between a top foreign policy official and a prominent oligarch.

In 2020, Navalny fell into a coma following a suspected poisoning with novichok, allegedly orchestrated by Russia’s FSB security service. He was subsequently evacuated to Germany for medical treatment and recovered. Upon returning to Russia in January 2021, he was arrested for violating parole conditions and faced multiple jail terms totaling more than 30 years.

Putin, who is seeking his fifth term as president, has recently launched his reelection campaign. He already holds the title of the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin and could extend his tenure further, considering the constitutional changes regarding term limits implemented in 2020.