Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has confirmed his arrival at an Arctic prison and said he was in good spirits.
Key points:
- Lawyers of Alexei Navalny were concerned when they didn’t hear form him for two weeks
- The Russian opposition figure posted to X saying he’d arrived at Russia’s toughest prison
- He says he is in good spirits and urged supporters not to worry
Navalny posted an update to X after he disappeared for more than two weeks and said he had seen his lawyer.
His allies revealed earlier this week he had been transferred to the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle.
“I am your new Santa Claus,” Navalny wrote jokingly in his first post from his new prison, a reference to the harsh weather conditions there.
“Well, I now have a sheepskin coat, an ushanka hat (a fur hat with ear-covering flaps), and soon I will get valenki (traditional Russian winter footwear).
“The 20 days of the transfer were quite tiring, but I’m still in an excellent mood, as Father Frost should be.”
Navalny’s new home, known as the Polar Wolf colony, is considered to be one of the toughest prisons in Russia.
Most prisoners there have been convicted of grave crimes.
Winters are harsh and temperatures are due to drop to around minus 28 Celsius there over the next week.
Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, has said she believes the decision to move him to such a remote and inhospitable location was designed to isolate him, make his life harder, and render it more difficult for his lawyers and allies to access him.
In his post, he said he was transported via a ‘strange route’ and that he didn’t expect anyone to find out he was there before mid-January.
Navalny, who thanked his supporters for their concern about his welfare during his long transfer, said he had seen guards with machine guns and guard dogs and had gone for a walk in the exercise yard which he said was located in a neighbouring cell, the floor of which he said was covered with snow.
Navalny, who denies all the charges he has been convicted of, says he has been imprisoned because he is viewed as a threat by the Russian political elite.
The Kremlin says he is a convicted criminal and has portrayed him and his supporters as extremists with links to the CIA intelligence agency which they say is seeking to destabilise Russia.
In his social media post, he told supporters he was unfazed by what he was facing.
“Anyway, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’m awfully glad I finally made it here,” Navalny said.
Reuters