VLADIMIR Putin's top critic Alexei Navalny has allegedly died in a hellhole Siberia prison as Kremlin foes claim he was murdered.
Prison officials today said the jailed Russian opposition leader, 47, collapsed inside a brutal Polar Wolf jail where he was being kept and could not be resuscitated.
Navalny was one of Putin's greatest enemies and his leading domestic critic in Russia - bravely challenging the tyrant's brutal war in Ukraine.
He had suffered serious health problems in jail, and was - according to prison officials - out for a walk in the prison compound when he mysteriously collapsed.
Russian staff then claimed that medics were called, but were not able to resuscitate him.
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Conflicting reports said the Kremlin critic was being held in solitary confinement when he reportedly died, according to the Human Rights Foundation.
Fierce critics of Putin have already come out to slam Russian tyrant Putin, dubbing Navalny's reported death "political murder".
Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics raged on X that Navalny was "brutally murdered by the Kremlin".
“Whatever you think about Alexei Navalny, as a politician he was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin.
“This is a fact, and this is what you need to know about the true nature of the current Russian regime. My condolences to family and friends."
And Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy raged “Obviously, Putin killed him".
Navalny's wife Yulia insisted Putin will be "held accountable" if her husband is confirmed dead.
She said: “I don’t know whether to believe or not this terrible news that we only receive from Russian government sources.
“For many years we cannot trust Putin and the Putin government. They always lie.
“But if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they did to our country, to my family. And this day will happen very soon.
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“I want to call on the international community and all people to unite and defeat this evil.”
Navalny was first picked up by Vlad's brutal police in 2021 after returning to Russia following an assassination attempt.
And when a sham trial in Russia found him guilty of trumped-up charges, the brave Putin challenger was locked up amid fears that he would not come out alive.
Navalny then went missing from a hellish Russian jail last year - and supporters warned that he could be executed.
He was later found in one of the toughest prisons in the country in Siberia - known as "the Polar Wolf" colony.
In total Putin's number one enemy had spent 308 days banged up - and there were reports that a sadistic Putin even demanded to see live footage of Navalny undergoing punishment and being humiliated by guards.
What we know so far...
- Officials at the 'Polar Wolf' jail where Navalny was held claim he collapsed during a walk outside and died today
- Ukraine's Zelensky and Latvian president Rinkevics claim Putin murdered the Kremlin critic
- The dad-of-two, aged just 47, had sent his wife a heartfelt Valentine's letter days before his reported death
- His mum Lyudmila said she saw Navalny a few days ago and he seemed healthy and cheerful
- Navalny was last pictured yesterday appearing in court via video link - he looked thin and had a shaved head
- The Kremlin enemy had spent 308 days locked up in Russia on trumped-up charges - including for extremism and terrorism
- British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Putin should be 'held accountable'
- Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said she has had no official confirmation of his death - but a lawyer is investigating
A statement from prison officials today read: “On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness."
An ambulance reached the brutal jail in just seven minutes - getting to Navalny's side in another two, Interfax reported.
“The doctors who arrived at the scene continued the resuscitation measures that were already being provided by the penal colony’s doctors.
"And they spent more than half an hour. However, the patient died," said the local hospital.
Navalny had sent a Valentines message to his wife Yulia, 47, just days ago from inside the Siberian prison.
The heartfelt letter read: "Baby, everything is like in a song with you: between us there are cities, the take-off lights of airfields, blue snowstorms and thousands of kilometres.
"But I feel that you are near every second, and I love you more and more."
The pair share two children, a daughter Daria and son Zakhar.
Today Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said she has had no confirmation of his death - but his lawyer is dashing to the jail to find out more.
She said: “The [prison service] in the Yamalo-Nenets region is spreading the news about the death of Alexei Navalny.
“We don't have any confirmation of this yet."
And his mother Lyudmila said: “I don't want to send any condolences. We saw our son in the colony on the 12th…He was alive, healthy, cheerful.”
James Rodgers, journalism lecturer and City University's presidential envoy on Ukraine, told The Sun that Navalny had caused "considerable embarrassment" to the Kremlin and had "paid with his life".
Rodgers also said Navalny's health had obviously deteriorated during his years behind bars and questioned why he was walking outside in freezing temperatures.
"He was the most high profile critic of the Kremlin. A lot of people are going to be looking at this, and saying, well, in effect, he has paid with his life.
"It was pretty clear that if he needed medical attention when he was in custody. He wasn't getting everything that he needed.
"He was in the penal colony north of the Arctic Circle. It is really, really, really harsh conditions, and if this was the only conditions he was getting to exercise in, that's not going to help somebody who was already in poor health."
Two brave Russians, human rights activist Lev Shlosberg and investigative journalist Andrey Zakharov, both said today he was killed by the mad despot.
Zakharov raged: “Navalny did not die, he was killed.
“And they are killing the dream of millions of people to live in a normal country."
And exiled Russian politician Dmitry Gudkov has fumed that even if Putin did not have Navalny assassinated - his death would still be the tyrant's fault.
“Even if Alexey died from “natural” causes, they were caused by his poisoning and further prison torture.
“Blood is on Putin," he fumed.
Gudkov also warned that Navalny's alleged death sets a dangerous precedent for prisoners who oppose Putin to suffer a "death penalty" at the hands of his "henchmen".
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today said: "This is terrible news. As the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life.
"My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy."
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: "Putin should be accountable for what has happened - no one should doubt the dreadful nature of his regime."
US President Joe Biden previously warned that the consequences for Russia would be "devastating" if Navalny died in prison.
Vice President Kamala Harris said if the claims of his death are true, it serves as further evidence of Putin's brutality.
He was seen for the last time yesterday in court - via video link. His head was shaved and he looked thin - but appeared to be keeping positive and even made some jokes.
Former Director of the CIA David Petraeus told Times Radio the news is a "tragedy" and described him as "the most courageous, most significant opponent of Vladimir Putin".
The head of Navalny’s FBK party Maria Pevchikh had warned last year: “We are worried for his life.
“He’s in the hands of the very same people who tried to kill him before.
“If they once got an authorisation to murder Navalny, do they have another one now or is the last one still valid. Navalny’s life is constantly at a high risk.”
Navalny was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in August 2020, which he claimed was an assassination attempt by the Kremlin.
He was then thrown into prison for 19 years on trumped-up charges of extremism and fraud.
The Kremlin critic has previously warned of Putin's desperation to silence him, after his team published a list of 200 oligarchs accused of being "directly responsible for the aggressive war launched against Ukraine."
And a disturbing video interview earlier this year with him revealed he was suffering from mystery stomach aches, seizures and had lost 18lbs in less than a month - sparking fears of a slow poisoning.
An investigator also allegedly told him he was set to face a fresh trial over terrorism charges which could have led to imprisonment for life.
