Aleksei A. Navalny portrays himself as invincible, using his humor to suggest that President Vladimir V. Putin can’t break him,despite his imprisonment in early 2021. Mr. Navalny’s most formidable opposition figure has been subjected to grim conditions throughout his prison term. His alleged death now confirms his aide’s fears. Russian authorities have denied access to his body, but Mr. Navalny had been kept in freezing “punishment cells,” transferred to crueler prisons, and was prevented from accessing medical care or information related to his injections. His staff believes these conditions led to his death on April 30, 2021 in a remote prison in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region. Shifts in narratives regarding Mr. Navalny’s death have sparked additional concern. His staff has observed various instances of mistreatment and fears that he was poisoned again. Notably, Mr. Navalny mentally survived an earlier poisoning by Russian authorities in 2020, which is attributed to the Federal Security Service. His legal team strongly believes that Mr. Navalny’s treatment in prison eventually drove him close to death.
Prison Conditions Put Navalny’s Health in Danger
