Putin’s Most Feared Man Possibly Dead, Vanished from Russian Prison

Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken critic, has been removed from the prison list where he has been held for the past year, causing panic among his lawyers and supporters.

It comes just days after the Russian opposition leader’s team expressed concern after he collapsed in his prison cell during what has been described as a “serious health-related incident.”

Aides expected Mr Navalny to be transferred to a harsher penal colony, where Russian criminals and reoffenders are frequently sent.

But he hasn’t been heard from in nearly a week.

Bill Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital, had pushed for Putin to face justice following the deaths of not only his former lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, but also Alexander Litvinenko, Boris Nemstov, and countless other Russians who spoke out against the Kremlin.

Mr Browder told M10News that Mr Navalny’s disappearance is concerning, adding, “In the best case, he’s being transferred between prisons; in the worst case, something catastrophic has happened to him.”

‘And the fact that the prison authorities are refusing to assist anyone in clarifying this is both horrific and sadistic.’

The troubling news comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to run again in the upcoming presidential elections, aiming for another six years in power.

Mr Navalny’s team was intending to start an ‘anti-Putin’ campaign, which will still go ahead, despite the unknown whereabouts of Mr Navalny.

Dr Ben Noble, Associate Professor of Russian Politics at University College London, told M10News that Mr Navalny has disappeared before while being moved between prisons.

He explained: ‘One possibility, then, is that he has been moved to a new, even more severe prison colony in line with the sentence handed down to him in August.

‘The Russian authorities are showing that they have complete control over Navalny’s fate

Joe Walters

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