Russia's top opposition leader and prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has died in an Arctic prison a month before an election that is poised to extend Vladimir Putin's 24-year rule.
Navalny's death, preceded by the Novichok poisoning in 2019 and a subsequent three-year prison term, deprived the Russian opposition of its leader at a time of brutal repression and Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.
Russian dissidents and Western leaders have blamed Putin and his regime for the 47-year-old opposition leader's death, which followed months of deteriorating health in harsh conditions behind bars.
"Alexei Navalny was tortured and tortured for three years ... Murder was added to Alexei Navalny's sentence," said Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov.
"Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. Even in prison, he was a powerful voice of truth," US President Joe Biden stressed in comments from the White House.
Navalny's death was announced by Russian authorities, who said Navalny "felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness".
Russian news agencies reported that medics from the local hospital arrived within minutes and spent more than "half an hour" trying to resuscitate him.
Navalny's wife, Yulia, said she held Putin personally responsible for her husband's death and called on the international community to "unite and defeat this evil, horrific regime."
Navalny was Russia's most prominent opposition leader and won numerous supporters with his campaigns against corruption in Putin's Russia.
The Russian leader, who is known for never mentioning Navalny by name, was visiting the Urals today but did not mention the death of his main opponent in his public appearance.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Western leaders of "absolutely unacceptable" and "hysterical" reactions to Navalny's death.
Moscow authorities have also warned the public not to take part in any protests, as videos shared online showed dozens of Russians laying flowers at memorials to victims of political repression in dozens of Russian cities.
In a video posted by the independent Sota channel on Telegram, at least one person was seen being arrested simply for holding a poster that read "murderers."
"They don't let anyone go out on the street. The government has a terrifying fear of protests, Tatiana Stanoeva, founder of the R consultancy, told AFP. Politik.
"Brutally murdered"
One of Navalny's lawyers, Leonid Solovyov, told Novaya Gazeta newspaper that the Kremlin critic was "in good condition" when he saw him on Wednesday, 14 February.
Footage of a court hearing from his prison colony a day later shows Navalny smiling and joking while addressing the judge via video link. State media reported that he showed no signs of health complaints during the hearing.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference hours after news of her husband's death, Yulia Navalny said Putin and his entourage "will be punished for everything they have done to our country, to my family and to my husband."
Western governments and Russian oppositionists instantly reprimanded the Kremlin.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Navalny's death was "a sign of Putin's brutality."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the opposition leader had "paid for his courage with his life", while British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his death was a "huge tragedy" for the Russian people.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said he had been "brutally murdered by the Kremlin" and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Ségourne stressed that his death "reminds us of the reality of the Putin regime".
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose nation has been fighting Russian forces for the past two years, said there was no doubt the Kremlin critic was "killed by Putin."
Bulgarian politicians, public figures and journalists have also condemned the regime in Moscow for the Russian opposition leader's death.
"I am deeply upset to learn of Alexei Navalny's death. He fought for freedom, defended democratic values and demonstrated remarkable courage," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Gabriel wrote on her X profile. The Foreign Minister also expressed her condolences to the family and friends of the Russian opposition leader on his death.
Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov stressed that "Navalny has been a symbol for years of the fight against dictatorship in Russia, the fight for free speech, the fight against the fact that a person cannot be imprisoned for having a different opinion."
"In a way, it seemed inevitable that this would happen, because we see how step by step the noose was tightened around him," he said. Denkov said sending Navalny to the Northern Colony seemed like a death sentence.
GERB leader Boyko Borissov said the regime had killed Navalny.
"Navalny is dead?! No - Navalny has been killed! The regime killed him! This is murder against democracy," Borissov said. "We need strong pressure on the Kremlin and more aid for Ukraine," he added.
"Today Navalny defeated Putin. He has become a symbol of freedom in Russia," PP-DB co-chair Kirill Petkov wrote on Facebook. "A symbol that cannot be closed, hidden or killed. From now on, Navalny will only motivate millions of free people in Russia to demand change," Petkov said.
"I am not afraid"
Navalny, who has led street protests for more than a decade, became known for his anti-corruption campaign.
His revelations of corruption in the state administration, posted on his YouTube channel, have garnered millions of views and brought tens of thousands of Russians out onto the streets despite strict laws against protests.
He was jailed in early 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from a near-fatal poisoning with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.
In a series of trials, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges described by independent human rights groups and in the West as revenge for his opposition to the Kremlin.
With his return to Russia, Navalny has won the admiration of the democratic world, despite his certain imprisonment.
"I am not afraid and I urge you not to be afraid," he told supporters as he landed in Moscow, shortly before he was detained on charges related to an old fraud conviction.
His arrest in 2021 sparked some of Russia's largest demonstrations in decades and thousands of people were detained at rallies across the country over calls for his release.
Behind bars, he was a staunch opponent of Moscow's full-scale military offensive against Ukraine and watched helplessly as the Kremlin dismantled his organisation and arrested his allies one by one.
Dozens of his chief supporters fled into exile and continued to campaign against the offensive in Ukraine and the growing repression in Russia.
"Do nothing"
Late last year, Navalny was moved to a remote Arctic prison colony in Russia's Yamalo-Nenets region in northern Siberia.
In January, Navalny said his daily routine included prison walks in freezing temperatures in a small concrete yard.
Since he was jailed in 2021, Navalny has spent more than 300 days in solitary confinement, where prison authorities kept him for alleged minor rule violations.
The last post on Navalny's Telegram channel, which he runs through his lawyers and team in exile, was a message to his wife, posted on Valentine's Day, February 14.
In a documentary filmed before his return to Russia, Navalny was asked what message he wanted to leave the Russian people if he died or was killed.
"Don't give up. You don't have to, you can't give up. All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing. So do something!" were Alexei Navalny's historic words./BGNES
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