Russiaupdated 56m ago2 min read
MapPutin Is Responsible, Biden Says After Alexei Navalny Dies In Prison
9 Western Mainstream4 Other4 West Asian1 Western AlternativeMap: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL · Cropped for layout
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Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year extremism sentence, Russia says. Western leaders attribute responsibility to Vladimir Putin, calling his regime accountable for Navalny's death.
Navalny dies in Arctic jail
Alexei Navalny died in prison, the Russian penitentiary service said, after the 47-year-old opposition leader “felt unwell” following a walk and “lost consciousness almost immediately.” The Yamalo-Nenets district penitentiary service said an emergency medical team arrived quickly and tried to resuscitate him “without success,” while it said “The causes of his death are being determined.”
Kira Yarmish said her team had not received information about the death, and she said Navalny’s lawyer was traveling to Siberia. Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin was informed of Navalny’s death, and Joe Biden said, “Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
West blames Putin, Kremlin rejects
Western leaders held Vladimir Putin directly responsible for Alexei Navalny’s death, with Biden saying “yet more proof of Putin’s brutality” and “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.” Yulia Navalnaya told the Munich Security Conference, “I don’t know whether to believe the terrible news,” and she said that if it was true, Putin and his allies “will be punished for what they’ve done with our country.”
The Kremlin said any suggestion that it was responsible was “completely unacceptable,” and Dmitry Peskov called Western leaders’ reaction “hysterical.” The Foreign Office summoned the Russian embassy in London and added “we hold the Russian authorities fully responsible,” while the US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Navalny’s death “only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built.”
Investigation and political fallout
The UN called for an independent investigation into what happened, as investigations into the causes of Navalny’s death proceeded after the penitentiary service said the causes were being determined. Human Rights Watch said “The Kremlin bears responsibility forRussianopposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in prison,” and Tirana Hassan said, “He should never have been in prison, in the first place.”
The Russian prosecutor’s office warned Russians not to participate in a mass protest in the centre of Moscow after news of the death was reported, and it said the mass event had not been coordinated with city authorities “in accordance with the procedure established by law.” NBC News reported that Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said Navalny died after feeling unwell following a walk on February 16, 2024, and it said the region’s investigative committee launched a “procedural investigation.”