Alexei Navalny, vocal critic of Vladimir Putin, dies in prison: Russian government

Alexei Navalny, the longtime Russian opposition politician and critic of Vladimir Putin, has died in prison at age 47.

LONDON -- Alexei Navalny, the longtime Russian opposition politician and critic of Vladimir Putin -- often considered to be a vocal and prominent thorn in the side of the Russian government -- has died in prison at age 47, according to the prison service.

"On 02/16/2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convicted Navalny A.A. felt ill after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. The medical staff of the institution immediately arrived, and an ambulance team was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not give positive results. The doctors of the emergency medical service pronounced the convict dead," the release said.

Navalny’s parents and lawyer will be in the penal colony where he was being held on Saturday morning, according to Navalny’s associate Ivan Zhdanov.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the reported death of Navalny during a meeting with the Indian minister of external affairs in Munich.