Russian opposition leader and politician Alexei Navalny vanished from the prison where he was being held, his spokesperson said Monday.
Navalny is a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has organized campaigns and protests against the Kremlin in prior years, according to The Associated Press. Navalny was arrested in 2021 on “extremism” charges and was sentenced to 19 years in a maximum security prison; his lawyers last heard from him approximately a week ago and do not know his current whereabouts, according to Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh. (RELATED: Wagner Leader May Have Joined Growing List Of Putin Opponents Who Mysteriously Died)
Navalny’s lawyers tried to contact him multiple times over the last week, even waiting hours outside his prison to speak with him, but were denied entry and given no details as to his current status, according to Yarmysh. Navalny’s team was especially concerned given his worsening health in solitary confinement.
“The fact that we can’t find Alexey is particularly worrying because he fell ill in his cell last week,” Yarmysh said on Friday. “We don’t know what it was, but given the fact that he’s not being fed, is being kept in a punishment cell with no ventilation and the time for walks has been reduced to a minimum, it looks like a hunger faint.”
Today, as on Friday, the lawyers tried to get to IK-6 and IK-7 — two colonies in the Vladimir region where Alexey @navalny might be. They have just been informed simultaneously in both colonies that he is not there.
We still don’t know where Alexey is.
— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) December 11, 2023
Navalny was also missing from several court hearings last week that were being conducted via live stream, according to Yarmysh. He would infrequently send letters to his lawyers and allies, but those also stopped coming through.
Navalny was set to appear again in court on Monday but made no appearance, Yarmysh said. When his lawyers inquired as to Navalny’s whereabouts, they were told that he was removed from prison and the inmate listing, but would not say where he was being transferred.
“Today, as on Friday, the lawyers tried to get to IK-6 and IK-7 — two colonies in the Vladimir region where Alexey might be,” Yarmysh said Monday. “They have just been informed simultaneously in both colonies that he is not there. We still don’t know where Alexey is.”
The White House said last week that they were “deeply concerned” about Navalny’s absence and called for his immediate release. “Neither his representatives nor his family know where he is. He should be released immediately,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said aboard Air Force One on Monday. “He should never have been jailed in the first place, and we’re going to work with our embassy in Moscow to see how much more we can find out.”
A number of Putin’s opponents have mysteriously disappeared or died during his reign, including politicians, journalists and business moguls. Most recently, former Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin – who spearheaded a coup against the Kremlin in June – died in a plane crash in August, but the Kremlin denies any involvement.
Navalny’s disappearance comes on the eve of Russia’s presidential elections in March 2024, according to the AP. Putin, having served as Russia’s president since 2000, announced his campaign for reelection on Friday; it is all but certain that he will win.
The Kremlin’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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