Prominent Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny collapsed and died today after a walk in the Polar Wolf Arctic colony where he was serving a long prison sentence, the Russian prison service said.
The Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after a walk at the penal colony IK-3 in Kharp, about 1,900 kilometres northeast of Moscow into the Arctic Circle. He lost consciousness almost immediately, the report said. Adding that causes of death were being established, the prison service reported:
“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results.”
Russian state television showed a press conference by the central bank governor when the news broke. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said she had no confirmation of his death.
Alexei Navalny was accused of creating an extremist community, financing extremist activities, public calls for extremism and rehabilitation of Nazism.
Navalny participated in Russian nationalist marches in the 2000s. Calls to restrict immigration and criticism that his views were considered too nationalistic by some led to his expulsion from the liberal opposition party Yabloko in 2007.
