Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison: Report

In August, Navalny was handed a 19-year prison sentence after being convicted of establishing an extremist organisation, funding extremist activists, and other alleged offenses. This verdict came while he was already serving an 11-and-a-half-year term in a high-security penitentiary for charges of fraud and other crimes, which he vehemently denied.

In December 2023, Reuters reported that Alexei Navalny had been tracked down to a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, his spokeswoman said on December 25, 2023, after supporters lost touch with him for more than two weeks.

Navalny's supporters maintained that his arrest and imprisonment were politically motivated, aimed at silencing his critiques of Putin's regime.

Navalny's new home then, known as "the Polar Wolf" colony, is considered to be one of the toughest prisons in Russia. Most prisoners there have been convicted of grave crimes. Winters are harsh - and temperatures are due to drop to around minus 28 Celsius there over the next week.