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Vice President Harris spoke about the death of Alexei Navalny, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16. (Video: The Washington Post)

Live updates Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison, officials say; wife speaks at Munich Security Conference

clock iconUpdated 16 min ago
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died Friday in a remote penal colony in Russia’s far north, the country’s prison service announced without giving the cause of his death. News of his death flooded across Russian Telegram news channels and was confirmed in a curt announcement by prison authorities, prompting the U.N. Human Rights Office to call for an independent investigation. Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, called on “all the people in the world” to stand up for her husband. “We should fight this horrific regime in Russia today,” she said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday after Vice President Harris’s speech there.

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Prison authorities reported that Navalny “felt unwell” after a walk, “almost immediately losing consciousness.” They said a medical team failed to resuscitate him.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia has “some very serious questions to answer” about Navalny’s death, while European Council President Charles Michel said the bloc considers Russia “responsible for this tragic death.” Vice President Harris described it as “terrible news, which we are working to confirm. … If confirmed, this would be a further sign of [Vladimir] Putin’s brutality. Whatever story they tell, let us be clear, Russia is responsible.” A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the West of having “its conclusion ready” before more information was available.
Navalny’s team did not immediately confirm his death but said his lawyer was flying to the prison colony in Kharp in Russia’s far north.
Navalny, a longtime critic of President Vladimir Putin, was Putin’s main political rival. He survived a poisoning attempt with a banned chemical nerve agent in August 2020 that the State Department said was carried out by agents of the Russian state.
He had been jailed since returning to Russia in January 2021 on charges that he and international rights groups described as trumped up for political retribution. He was barred from running against Putin in a presidential election in 2018. Putin is again up for reelection next month.
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Prison authorities reported that Navalny “felt unwell” after a walk, “almost immediately losing consciousness.” They said a medical team failed to resuscitate him.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia has “some very serious questions to answer” about Navalny’s death, while European Council President Charles Michel said the bloc considers Russia “responsible for this tragic death.” Vice President Harris described it as “terrible news, which we are working to confirm. … If confirmed, this would be a further sign of [Vladimir] Putin’s brutality. Whatever story they tell, let us be clear, Russia is responsible.” A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the West of having “its conclusion ready” before more information was available.
Navalny’s team did not immediately confirm his death but said his lawyer was flying to the prison colony in Kharp in Russia’s far north.
Navalny, a longtime critic of President Vladimir Putin, was Putin’s main political rival. He survived a poisoning attempt with a banned chemical nerve agent in August 2020 that the State Department said was carried out by agents of the Russian state.
He had been jailed since returning to Russia in January 2021 on charges that he and international rights groups described as trumped up for political retribution. He was barred from running against Putin in a presidential election in 2018. Putin is again up for reelection next month.
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