Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via video link from the IK-2 corrective penal colony in Pokrov (Picture: Reuters)
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny confirmed his arrival at a new prison on the Arctic Circle in a first statement since going missing nearly three weeks ago.
In it, he assured supporters he remains in good spirits despite being transferred to the harsh ‘Polar Wolf’ colony more than 1,000 miles northeast of Moscow.
It is considered to be one of the toughest prisons in Russia, with most prisoners having been convicted of grave crimes.
Describing himself as the new Santa Claus, Navalny expressed surprise at having been found, saying he expected to be missing until at least mid-January.
Navalny has been moved to a prison colony above the Arctic Circle (Picture: AP)
He wrote: ‘The 20 days of my transportation were pretty exhausting, but I’m still in a good mood, as befits a Santa Claus.
‘They brought me here on Saturday night. And I was transported with such precaution and on such a strange route (Vladimir – Moscow – Chelyabinsk – Ekaterinburg – Kirov – Vorkuta – Kharp) that I didn’t expect anyone to find me here before mid-January.
‘That’s why I was very surprised when the cell door was opened yesterday with the words: “A lawyer is here to see you”.
‘He told me that you had lost me, and some of you were even worried. Thanks very much for your support!’
Navalny, the most prominent foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism.
He had been imprisoned in the Vladimir region of central Russia, about 140 miles east of Moscow, but his lawyers said they had not been able to reach him since December 6.
Navalny disappeared shortly after Vladimir Putin announced his intention to run for a fifth presidential term (Picture: AP)
The region is notorious for long and severe winters. The town is about 60 miles from Vorkuta, whose coal mines were among the harshest of the Soviet Gulag prison-camp system.
Navalny’s chief strategist, Leonid Volkov, said on X: ‘It is almost impossible to get to this colony, it is almost impossible to even send letters there.
‘This is the highest possible level of isolation from the world.’
Transfers within Russia’s prison system are shrouded in secrecy and inmates can disappear from contact for several weeks.
Navalny’s team was particularly alarmed when he could not be found because he had been ill and reportedly was being denied food and kept in an unventilated cell.
Supporters believed he was deliberately being hidden after Putin announced his candidacy in Russia’s March presidential election.
While his re-election is all but certain, given his overwhelming control over the country’s political scene and a widening crackdown on dissent, Navalny’s supporters and other critics hope to use the campaign to erode public support for the Kremlin leader and his military action in Ukraine.
Navalny has been behind bars in Russia since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption and organised major anti-Kremlin protests.
He has since received three prison terms and spent months in isolation in Penal Colony No. 6 for alleged minor infractions.
He has rejected all charges against him as politically motivated.
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