Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s unexpected death in prison elicited little response from the Kremlin on Saturday, amid protests and rising charges from the West.
The 47-year-old had been imprisoned for three years in steadily deteriorating conditions when prison officials abruptly stated Friday that he “felt bad after a walk” and died.
His death deprives Russia’s opposition of a figurehead barely a month before elections that are expected to extend President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power, and it comes as authorities conduct an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.
Makeshift tributes and tiny rallies in commemoration of the murdered leader were quickly dispersed by Russian authorities, who rights groups claim have detained 177 people so far.
After fiercely rejecting charges that they were to responsible, officials made little to no mention of his death on Saturday, as the chorus of criticism from the West increased.
The G7 foreign ministers met in Munich on Saturday and observed a minute’s silence for Navalny, according to the office of Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
“Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” US President Joe Biden said Friday, echoing other leaders who blamed the Kremlin.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Saturday said Navalny’s “heroic opposition to Putin’s repressive and unjust regime inspired the world”.
“We hold the Russian Government solely responsible for his treatment and death in prison,” Wong posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov said Navalny’s death was “murder” and that he was “tortured and tormented” for all of the three years he spent in prison.
China, an increasingly important ally for the Kremlin, declined to comment on his death.
‘Terrifying regime’
Police detained at least 15 people in Moscow for putting flowers at a monument to victims of Soviet tyranny, according to the independent media site Sota.
In one video uploaded by the publication, a lady can be heard screaming as a mob of police officers forcefully detains her, prompting yells of “shame” from bystanders.
Another image showed a group of people wearing plain clothes stealing flowers off a monument in the capital’s Lubyanka Square overnight, while police sealed off the area.
Russia’s federal correctional service announced Navalny’s death, saying he lost consciousness while walking.
According to Russian news sources, physicians from a local hospital responded in minutes and spent more than “half an hour” attempting to resuscitate him.
Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s wife, said she held Putin personally accountable and urged the international community to “unite and defeat this evil, terrifying regime”.
His spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said on Saturday that his mother, Lyudmila, had been officially notified of his death and that his remains should be handed to his family promptly.
Navalny was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, gaining a large following while campaigning against corruption under Putin.
Putin, who notoriously never spoke to Navalny by name, was visiting the Urals on Friday and made no note of his death.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, accused Western leaders on Friday of “absolutely unacceptable” and “hysterical” reactions to Navalny’s death.
‘I’m not afraid’
Leonid Solovyov, one of Navalny’s lawyers, told the Novaya Gazeta newspaper that he appeared “normal” when another lawyer saw him on Wednesday.
Navalny was seen smiling and joking in court footage from his prison cell on Thursday, when he addressed the judge via video link. According to state media, he made no health complaints during the session.
Yulia Navalnaya, speaking at the Munich Security Conference hours after her husband’s murder, vowed Putin and his entourage would be “punished for everything they have done to our country, to my family, and to my husband”.
Navalny, who organized street rallies for over a decade, rose to prominence through his anti-corruption campaigns.
His YouTube videos exposing state corruption received millions of views and drew tens of thousands of Russians to the streets, despite draconian anti-protest regulations.
He was imprisoned in early 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had recovered from a near-fatal poisoning incident with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve toxin.
In a series of prosecutions, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison on allegations widely condemned by human rights organizations and Western governments as payback for his resistance to the Kremlin.
His return to Russia while knowing he would face imprisonment earned him admiration.
“I’m not afraid, and I call on you not to be afraid,” he declared in an appeal to followers as he arrived in Moscow, seconds before being held on allegations related to an old fraud conviction.
His 2021 arrest sparked arguably of Russia’s largest demonstrations in decades, with thousands imprisoned at nationwide rallies calling for his release.
‘Don’t do nothing’
Navalny was a fervent opponent of Moscow’s full-fledged military offensive against Ukraine, and he watched helplessly as the Kremlin decimated his organisation and imprisoned his allies.
Dozens of his prominent supporters escaped to exile, where they continued to agitate against the offensive in Ukraine and internal Russian repression.
Late last year, Navalny was transferred to a remote Arctic prison colony known as “Polar Wolf” in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets region in northern Siberia.
He stated in January that his daily schedule included jail walks in cold conditions.
Since being imprisoned in 2021, he has spent more than 300 days in solitary confinement, where prison officials detained him for supposed minor violations of prison rules.
The most recent post on Navalny’s Telegram channel, which he manages in exile through his attorneys and colleagues, was a Valentine’s Day dedication to his wife.
In a documentary produced before his return to Russia, Navalny was asked what message he wanted to leave for the Russian people if he died or was killed.
“Don’t give up. You mustn’t, you can’t give up,” he said.
“All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Therefore, don’t do nothing.”