Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic foe, died on Friday at the Arctic prison where he was serving a three-decade prison term.
Navalny was incarcerated at the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle located in Kharp in the Yamalо-Nenets region about 1,900 km (1200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
His death was announced by the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District at 2:19 pm Moscow time (1119 GMT) on Feb. 16.
“On Feb. 16, 2024, in penal colony number 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.
“The medical staff of the institution arrived immediately, and an ambulance team was called.
“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not give positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established.”
His 69-year-old mother, Lyudmila, had been given a notice of the death, Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said. The time of death in that notice was 2:17 p.m. local time (0917 GMT) on Feb. 16, Yarmysh said.
“When Alexei’s lawyer and mother arrived at the colony this morning, they were told that the cause of Navalny’s death was sudden death syndrome,” Ivan Zhdanov, who directs Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on Saturday.
Sudden death syndrome” is a vague term for different cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.
An unidentified source told state-controlled RT that Navalny died from a blood clot.
Russian investigators have not yet determined the cause of Navalny’s death and, his mother and lawyers were told by investigative officials, Yarmysh said on Monday.
