Prominent Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Dies In Prison

Eko Hot Blog reports that jailed Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny has died.

The Russian prison service disclosed the development Friday afternoon.

The service said Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” and “almost immediately” lost consciousness. It said it was investigating his “sudden death.”

In a statement, the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (FSIN) said Navalny felt unwell after a walk on Friday and “almost immediately” lost consciousness.

“Medical personnel from the institution arrived promptly, and an ambulance team was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were taken, but they did not yield positive results.

“Emergency medical doctors confirmed the death of the convicted individual.

“The causes of death are being determined.”

Navalny’s spokesperson said his lawyer is travelling to the Siberian penal colony where Navalny had been serving his sentence.

His mother said she had just seen Navalny for a visit this week, and he was “alive, healthy and cheerful.”

Navalny made global headlines when he was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020. The Russian opposition figure was sentenced to 19 years in prison in August.

He was already serving sentences of 11-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges he denied.

According to CNN, an ambulance crew tried to resuscitate Alexey Navalny for more than half an hour, Labytnang City Hospital told Russian state-run media RIA Novosti.

“The doctors who arrived at the scene continued the resuscitation measures that the prison’s doctors had already provided,” the agency’s interlocutor said, according to RIA.

“They carried them out for more than half an hour. However, the patient died.”

“The ambulance team reached the prison in less than seven minutes, and doctors reached the patient two minutes later,” according to the interlocutor.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of reports of Navalny’s death, state-run media Ria Novosti reports.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has accused Western leaders of rushing to judgement over Navalny’s death.

Maria Zakharova said the reaction from NATO leaders to Navalny’s death “reveals their true colours.”

“There is no forensic examination yet, but the West’s conclusions are already ready,” she said in a statement on social media.

On his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin must be held accountable for the death of the opposition leader.

”Alexey Navalny died in a Russian prison – it is obvious for me that he was killed,” Zelensky told reporters at a joint news conference in Berlin with German chancellor Olaf Scholz.

”Putin does not care who dies as long as he stays in his position – and this is why he should lose everything. This is why he should lose the war and he should be held accountable for the crimes that were committed on his behalf,” Zelensky went on to say.

”Like thousands of others who have been tortured to death because of this single Russian leader,” Zelensky said.

Other world leaders have blamed Putin for Navalny’s demise.