Alexei Navalny: Russian opposition leader found, says team
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is alive and being held in a penal colony in Siberia, according to his spokeswoman, BBC reports.
"We found Alexei Navalny," Kira Yarmysh said on 25 December, adding that he was now in northern Russia.
His team had had no contact with him since 6 December, after he was moved from a previous prison.
Mr Navalny, considered one of Vladimir Putin's leading opponents, has been imprisoned since 2021.
"His lawyer saw him today. Alexei is fine," Ms Yarmysh wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
She said he had been moved to the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, in northern Russia.
He had previously been held in Melekhovo, 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow.
The new prison, nicknamed the "Polar Wolf" colony, is considered one of the toughest in Russia. Most detainees held there have been convicted of serious crimes.
Mr Navalny's aide Ivan Zhadov said the colony was one of the "most remote colonies" in Russia, with "harsh" conditions.
He added that Mr Navalny's move demonstrated how "the system deals with political prisoners, trying to isolate and suppress them".
