Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is dead. The country’s prison authorities will tell you about it.
Officials of Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets District Penitentiary reported the death to the Russian news agency Interfax on Friday. Navalny was 47 years old when he died.
According to the authorities’ statement, Navalnyi began to feel ill after the walk and quickly lost consciousness. The medical staff arrived at the scene and at the same time an ambulance was called.
CPR was started immediately, but it did not produce the desired result. The rescue personnel confirmed the condemned man’s death and now the cause of death is being investigated, the statement stated according to news agency AFP. News agency Interfax says that they tried to revive Navalnyi for half an hour.
The Kremlin said on Friday that it has no information on Navalny’s cause of death.
Navalnyi was serving a prison sentence of more than 20 years in the IK-3 penitentiary, which is located in Northwestern Siberia in the village of Harpi. Last year, Navalnyi was sentenced to long prison sentences for, among other things, establishing an extremist organization.
The EU has considered the sentences to be political and has repeatedly called on Russia to release Navalny.
This video tells who Navalnyi was and what he was known for both in Russia and in the world.
Navalnyi was arrested in 2021 when he returned to Russia from Germany. He had been transported to Germany to receive treatment due to the poisoning attempt that took place in August 2020.
Navalnyi and his supporters have accused the Russian security service FSB of attempted murder.
Navalny’s team: Premeditated political murder
Navalny’s spokesman Kira JarmyÅ¡ says the message service X that the opposition politician’s team currently has no confirmed information about Navalny’s death.
– We do not have confirmed information yet [Navalnyin kuolemasta]. Aleksei’s lawyer is on his way to Harpi. We will tell you as soon as we get information, JarmyÅ¡ writes in X.
Later, Navalny’s supporters began to consider the news to be true. Navalny’s death was ruled a murder.
– If it is true, Navalnyi is not “dead†, Putin killed him. I don’t trust them [Venäjän viranomaisiin] Let’s go, Volkov says in X.
Director of the anti-corruption foundation founded by Navalny Ivan Ždanov says the case is a premeditated political assassination for which Putin is responsible. According to Ždanov, the anti-corruption agency will continue to operate in any case.
So far, very little has been reported about Navalny’s death in the Russian media.
Navalny’s wife spoke in Munich and held Putin accountable
Navalny’s wife Yuliya Navalnaya gave a short speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
In her speech, she initially wondered if she really had a reason to appear and talk about her husband’s death. The information about her husband’s death comes only from Russia’s official media, which are known to be extremely unreliable, she said.
If the information is true, Navalnaya wants to appeal to the international community so that the President of Russia Vladimir Putinhis administration and those close to him have to personally answer for their actions.
Alexei Navalny’s mother Lyudmila Navalnaya on the other hand says that he doesn’t want to hear condolences yet. He says that he saw his son – alive, healthy and happy†on February 12 when he visited the penitentiary, reported the Russian Novaya Gazeta.
Orpo: Russia is responsible for the death
In the world and in Finland, the news of Navalny’s death has been received with shock.
The Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (co.) says that the responsibility for Navalny’s death lies with Russia itself.
– If the information is true, then yes, it is a shock and a shock. It tells about everything the Russian leadership is ready for. Russia is responsible for this event, Orpo said in an interview.
– This tells us that in Russia the opposition’s activities are practically impossible and it will be defeated by any means, regardless of the means, Orpo continues.
Finland’s former ambassador to Russia Hannu Himanen stated in the 9:30 news that the Russian authorities, the government, the Kremlin and Putin individually are unequivocally responsible for Navalny’s death.
– You can even call it murder.
– This was clearly a negligent act, considering that the deterioration of Navalny’s condition was clearly visible in the news photos. And it was known that he had acute health problems for which he needed help and did not always get it. This kind of deliberate nagging of the authorities, harming health in different ways, it has happened here over a long period of time.
Himanen stated that the cause of the opposition leader’s death will hardly ever be found out. He also estimates that, at least in the short term, Navalny’s death will have no consequences for Putin.
Zelenskyi, the United States and the EU demand Putin to account
President of Ukraine to Volodymyr Zelensky according to it is clear that the president of Russia Vladimir Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. According to Zelensky, Putin wants to stay in power, and he doesn’t care who he kills.
President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Vice President Josep Borrell held a joint press conference. they assured that the EU will do everything it can to hold Russia’s political leadership and authorities accountable.
– Him [Navalnyin] murdered by President Putin and his administration, who fear nothing more than the resistance of their own people.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak characterized the news about the death of the opposition leader in the message service X as terrible. According to him, Navalnyi fervently promoted Russian democracy and showed incredible courage throughout his life.
Also the President of the United States Joe Biden held Putin responsible for Navalny’s death.
– He [Navalnyi] courageously opposed all the corruption, violence and evil deeds that Putin’s regime brought about, Biden stated.
Biden demanded that the House of Representatives of Congress quickly approve the aid package intended for Ukraine, which is stuck between the Republicans and Donald Trump’s to resistance.
Biden was upset by Trump’s speech, in which he said he would give Russia a free hand to do “what the hell they want†with regard to NATO countries that do not spend enough money on his defense. Biden assured that the United States will support its allies as long as he is president.
Biden said that new sanctions against Russia are being considered.
Disappeared in December
The imprisonment of Navalny, who survived the poisoning, was overshadowed by concerns about his health.
In December, Navalnyi was missing for almost three weeks. Contact with the opposition leader ended unexpectedly in early December, when lawyers were prevented from visiting him in the IK-6 penal colony.
IK-6 is located in the village of Melohovo, about 230 kilometers east of Moscow. Navalnyi was finally found at the end of December in the IK-3 penal colony in Siberia.
Sources: Reuters, AFP