Putin Critic Alexei Navalny ‘Found’ in Siberian Penal Colony After Missing For Two Weeks

Alexei Navalny, the fiercest domestic critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been located in a remote Siberian penal colony two weeks after his lawyers lost contact with him.

Spokesperson Kira Yarmysh made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) on Christmas morning.

“We have found Alexey @navalny. He is now in IK-3 in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. His lawyer visited him today. Alexey is doing well.”

CNN’s Nada Bashir reported that Navalny was transferred from where he was being held near Moscow to the penal colony near Siberia, some 2,000 miles away, unbeknownst to his team.

“There is concern around the conditions he may be facing in this penal colony,” Bashir said. “We have this statement from the director of his anti-corruption foundation saying just a little while ago, ‘Navalny is in colony ID-3 in Kharp, called Polar North, one of the northernmost and most remote colonies. The conditions there are harsh with a special regime in the permafrost zone, it is very difficult to get there, and the are no letter delivery systems.'”

Navalny’s lawyer is said to have visited him at the Siberian location, and had confirmed his presence there.

The opposition leader and now political prisoner was sentenced to 19 years in August for charges “relating to extremism.” He had already been serving 11 1/2 years for other charges including fraud.

“These are of course charges that Navalny has consistently denied,” Bashir said. “He, his lawyers and his supporters have accused judges of handing out this charge and the prison sentence, the ‘politically motivated sentence,’ is how his supporters have called it. He has posed the most serious threats to Vladimir Putin’s legitimacy during his rule and has faced continuous threats from the Kremlin. Of course, now there will be serious concern over the situation. He may be facing particularly of course with little contact between his team, lawyers and Alexei Navalny.”

Navalny nearly died in 2020 when he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok while on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. He later learned that the lethal agent had been applied to his underwear where it was easily absorbed into his bloodstream. Navalny was sent to a secret location in Germany to recuperate before continuing his campaign against Putin.

Watch the clip above via CNN.