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Russia: Kremlin says it has 'no desire' to locate Navalny

December 15, 2023

Aides of the prominent Kremlin critic have said he was moved from a penal colony near Moscow and has not been seen by his lawyers for 11 days. The Kremlin's lack of response adds to the uncertainty surrounding his fate.

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A screen shot of Alexei Navalny
Navalny seen in a 2022 video link from a penal colony during a court hearing on new charges Image: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been removed from a penal colony near Moscow, and taken to an undisclosed location, his spokeswomen said Friday. 

Kira Yarmysh said she was told by a Russian court that Navalny was removed from the Vladimir region near Moscow on December 11, adding that "It is not known where exactly" he was taken. 

His aides say they fear Navalny has been potentially transferred to a harsher prison. 

The Kremlin on Friday told a press briefing it had no information on Navalny's whereabouts. 

"I repeat again: We do not have the capacity, or right, or desire, to track the fates of those prisoners who are serving sentences by order of a court," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Alexei Navalny, Putin's relentless Russian critic — archive

Navalny's continuous prison sentences

Navalny has been behind bars since January 2021. He is serving a 19-year sentence on several charges at a maximum-security prison in the town of Melekhovo in the Vladimir region, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow.

A fierce opponent of President Vladimir Putin, Navalny campaigned against corruption and organized large anti-Kremlin protests.

He was arrested on his return to Moscow from Germany, where he was recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny has since been sentenced to three jail terms and spent months in isolation in the penal colony for alleged minor offenses. He has denied all charges against him as politically motivated.

Navalny sentence meant 'to scare as many people as possible'

wmr/rt (AFP, Reuters)