MOSCOW – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died on Feb 16 after collapsing and losing consciousness in the penal colony north of the Arctic Circle where he was serving a long jail term, the Russian prison service said.Navalny, by far Russia’s most famous opposition leader, rose to prominence more than a decade ago by lampooning the elite class around Russian President Vladimir Putin and voicing allegations of corruption on a vast scale.
Mr Putin has been told about Navalny’s death, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The Russian leader, who is running for re-election in a month, was shown on a television clip visiting a factory in the Urals. “The ruthlessness against Navalny shows again why it is necessary to continue to fight against authoritarianism.”
“My sincere belief is that it was the conditions of detention that led to Navalny’s death... His sentence was supplemented by murder,” Mr Muratov said, offering condolences to his family.