VLADIMIR Putin’s top critic Alexei Navalny has died in a hellhole Siberia prison, Russia has claimed.
The jailed Russian opposition leader, 47, was discovered in one of Putin’s toughest jails in December last year after going missing for 20 days.
APThe last picture of Navalny behind bars in Russia – in August last year[/caption]
ReutersJailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny[/caption]
Today officials from the prison where Navalny was being held claimed the Kremlin critic had died.
Navalny, who has suffered serious health problems in jail, was reportedly being held in solitary confinement, the Human Rights Foundation claimed.
Putin’s number one enemy went missing during his stint in a hellish Russian gulag last year – and his supporters warned he could be executed.
A statement today read: “On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
The head of Navalny’s FBK party Maria Pevchikh warned last year: “We are worried for his life.
“He’s in the hands of the very same people who tried to kill him before.
“If they once got an authorisation to murder Navalny, do they have another one now or is the last one still valid. Navalny’s life is constantly at a high risk.”
Navalny was later found in one of the toughest prisons in Russia in Siberia – known as “the Polar Wolf” colony, his spokeswoman said.
He was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in August 2020, which he claimed was an assassination attempt by the Kremlin.
He was thrown into prison for more than 30 years on trumped-up charges of extremism and fraud.
The Kremlin critic has previously warned of Putin’s desperation to silence him, after his team published a list of 200 oligarchs accused of being “directly responsible for the aggressive war launched against Ukraine.”
And a disturbing video interview earlier this year with him revealed he was suffering from mystery stomach aches, seizures and had lost 18lbs in less than a month – sparking fears of a slow poisoning.
An investigator also allegedly told him he was set to face a fresh trial over terrorism charges which could have led to imprisonment for life.
APProtesters gather outside the home of Russian ambassador Sergei Netshaev in Berlin on December 16 after Navalny’s disappearance[/caption]
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