<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655340559918,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-fe9d-da96-ad7d-ffbf8a5c0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655340559918,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-fe9d-da96-ad7d-ffbf8a5c0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55321047", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1033434"} }); ","_id":"00000181-69fc-dd13-a9fb-79fe62cd0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedPutin critic Alexei Navalny has been transferred to a high-security prison, a day after aides raised fears that the Russian opposition leader had gone missing.
Navalny, 46, was moved to a maximum security jail in Melekhovo, over 150 miles east of Moscow. The facility has been at the center of several investigations for the alleged abuse of inmates, his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said Wednesday.
JAILED PUTIN RIVAL ALEXEI NAVALNY MISSING, MOVED TO UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
“Space travel continues — I moved from ship to ship,” Navalny wrote in a letter published on his social media. “Well, that is, hello to everyone from the strict regime zone.”
Navalny’s aides had said Tuesday that he was transferred from another jail, though they did not know where he was at the time, prompting concerns for his safety.
Navalny, the face of opposition in Russia to President Vladimir Putin, had previously expressed suspicions that he would be moved to the high-security facility.
“My new sentence has not yet entered into force, but I’ve heard rumors that I’ll be transferred to the high-security colony in Melekhovo, where convicts get their fingernails pulled out,” he tweeted last month.
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Navalny is serving an 11 1/2-year prison sentence, though he cautioned last month he could face an additional 15 years due to a fresh criminal case against him. Navalny was most recently arrested in January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany after treatment for an alleged nerve agent attack.
The new case alleges he created an “extremist group in order to incite hatred towards officials and oligarchs.” His current sentence is the result of fraud and contempt of court charges.
Navalny has publicly speculated that a Novichok-class nerve agent poisoning attack against him originated from Russian state agents. The Kremlin has forcefully denied any involvement.