Russian opponent Alexei Navalny died in prison. EU condemns Kremlin “solely responsible”

Brussels – Alexei Navalny, considered the leading opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died today in prison in Russia after nearly three years in detention. The news was released on Friday morning by the Russian Prison Service that Navalny had died after feeling ill during a walk in the prison colony north of the Arctic Circle where he was serving a long sentence.

Navalny, 47, became famous in the West for the Kremlin’s failed attempt to poison him in August 2020. Shortly after returning to Russia, he had then been jailed and, last August, sentenced to serve another 19 years in prison.

The prison service reports that “all necessary resuscitation measures were performed but were unsuccessful. The ambulance doctors pronounced the death of the convict.”

While the cause of death has not yet been ascertained, messages of condolence and contemporary condemnation resound from Brussels. “Navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy. For his ideals, he made the ultimate sacrifice,” the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, commented on X, blaming without half-measures “the Russian regime” as “solely responsible for this tragic death. I offer my deepest condolences to his family. And to those fighting for democracy around the world under the darkest conditions. Fighters die. But the struggle for freedom never ends.”

Alexei @navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy. For his ideals, he made the ultimate sacrifice.

The EU holds the Russian regime for sole responsible for this tragic death.

I extend my deepest condolences to his family. And to those who fight for democracy around…

– Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) February 16, 2024

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “deeply disturbed and saddened by the news. Putin fears nothing but dissent from his own people.” And Navalny’s death “is a sad reminder of what Putin and his regime stand for. Let us unite in our struggle to safeguard the freedom and security of those who dare to oppose autocracy.”

She is echoed by the President of the Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who writes on X that the “world has lost a fighter whose courage will resonate through the generations—horrified by the death of Sakharov Prize winner Alexei Navalny. Russia took away his freedom and life but not his dignity. His struggle for democracy lives on. Our thoughts are with his wife and children.”