Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison

Russian opposition leader and Putin critic Alexei Navalny has died in prison,, after a struggle against official corruption and the Kremlin.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison, the country's prison service said Friday, following a yearslong struggle against official corruption and President Vladimir Putin's government that saw him survive several poisoning attempts. 

He was 47.

Navalny was poisoned with a military nerve agent while on a business trip in Russia in 2020 — an attempt on his life that he blamed directly on Putin — and spent his final years behind bars as the Russian leader reshaped the country to rally behind his war in Ukraine. News of his death, which comes as the Kremlin is preparing to orchestrate another election victory for Putin in March, drew outrage from the West, where many leaders blamed Putin.

Navalny was serving a combined 30 ½-year jail sentence when he died. He went missing in Russia's penal system in December, eventually turning up at a high-security penal colony in a remote town above the Arctic Circle.

Russia's Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny had died after feeling unwell following a walk Friday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russian-opposition-leader-alexei-navalny-dies-prison-rcna79718

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