Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in a maximum-security prison in the country's far north, the Interfax news service reported Friday, citing the Federal Penitentiary Service.
47 year old Navalny, a major critic of President Vladimir Putin, vanished in December from a prison in the Vladimir region where he was serving a three-decade term for extremism and fraud charges that he had called political payback for his anti-Kremlin stance a decade ago. He had no expectations of getting out of jail as long as Putin was in power.
"On February 16, 2024, in penal colony No. 3, convict A.A. Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness," Interfax said, citing the country's prison service.
The Russian news agency continued: "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."
Navalny's death leaves any opposition to Putin in question. All of Putin's top adversaries are now either deceased, imprisoned, or living in exile.
*This is a developing story
