- A letter from Russian Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who has been missing for more than two weeks, has appeared on the X platform.
- Navalny comments on the new prison conditions in a rather joking manner and writes: “I am your new Father Frost.” Father Frost is the Russian Santa Claus.
- Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysch announced on
Navalny expressed relief after his arrival at the notorious “Polar Wolf” prison camp in the far north of Russia. “20 days on stage were quite strenuous, but my mood is still excellent,” said the 47-year-old in a letter published on social networks on Tuesday.
In Russia, “on stage” refers to the transport of prisoners to a penal camp. Navalny’s team announced on Monday that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s opponent had been found by a lawyer in camp IK-3 in Charp in the Arctic Circle after a long search.
“I didn’t expect anyone to find me here before mid-January,” Navalny said. He thanked his team of lawyers and supporters who had been looking for him in various detention centers and prison camps for weeks. “I’m fine,” he wrote. “I’m so happy that I’ve finally arrived.”
It was clear from the start that Moscow’s power apparatus wanted to isolate Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s opponent before the presidential election on March 17th. “His whereabouts were kept secret,” criticized Ivan Zhdanov, a member of his team that started the search operation.
In August, Alexei Navalny was sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison, in addition to the eleven and a half years he is already serving. Among other things, he was convicted of extremism. The opposition politician repeatedly files lawsuits against the prison system for violating his rights. Navalny used the court appearances to criticize Putin’s authoritarian system. Recently he was no longer involved in the negotiations.
Navalny is in poor health
The whereabouts of the Russian president’s fiercest opponent had been unknown since the beginning of December. There was also great concern for the 47-year-old because he is in poor health. During court proceedings, prison employees only stated that Navalny was no longer in the IK-6 penal camp, around 260 kilometers east of Moscow in the Vladimir region.
Legend:
There are no current pictures from the Polarwolf prison camp or of Alexej Nawanly. This image was taken at a court hearing in September 2023.
Keystone/Archive/EPA/Maxim Shipenkov
The Kremlin opponents around Navalny also started the “Russia without Putin” campaign at the beginning of December, with which they called on voters before the presidential election to express their protest by voting for other candidates. Putin is taking part in the vote for the fifth time, and possible competitors are considered to have no chance.
Navalny, who also survived an assassination attempt with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020, has been in prison for almost three years. He was internationally recognized as a political prisoner.