Russian opposition leader Navalny found in prison above the Arctic Circle: "As isolated from the world as can be"

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose whereabouts had been unknown for the past 19 days, has been found in a correctional facility No 3 Polyarnyi Volk (Polar Wolf) located in the village of Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, above the Arctic Circle in the Russian Federation.

Source: Meduza, a Russian media outlet based in Latvia, citing posts by Navalny’s allies

Quote from Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s press secretary: "We have found Alexei Navalny. He is held in the correctional facility No 3 in the village of Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district. His lawyer saw him today. Alexei is fine."

Details: Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation [a non-profit organisation established by Navalny in 2011 – ed.], said that Navalny’s allies have filed 618 inquiries [about his whereabouts] and that his lawyers have searched "every detention facility, sometimes more than once" in order to find Navalny. Zhdanov said that correctional facility No 3 is "one of the northernmost and the farthest colonies that exist".

Quote from Ivan Zhdanov: "Conditions there are harsh, it is a special regime colony in the permafrost zone. It’s very difficult to get there, and neither the Federal Penitentiary Service nor Zonatelecom deliver letters there. A lawyer was there today. He saw Alexei. They didn’t let the lawyer come in straight away."

Quote from Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s ally: "He [i.e., Navalny – ed.] is in the village of Harp in the YNAD [Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District], above the polar circle. It’s practically impossible to get to this colony, it’s practically impossible to even send a letter there. It’s as isolated from the world as can be – which is exactly why all this has happened."

More details: Navalny’s lawyers, family, and allies had no information about his whereabouts for nearly three weeks. No one has been in contact with him since 6 December. For the first few days, his lawyers were not allowed into the colony where Navalny was previously held under a series of pretexts. Later the court said that Navalny "had left the Vladimir Oblast" on 11 December, without saying where he had gone.

Correctional facility No 3 "has always served as a colony for particularly dangerous recidivists", the independent Novaya Gazeta wrote in 2006. Platon Lebedev, Mikhail Khodarkovsky’s business partner, served part of his term there.

Alexei Navalny has been imprisoned since early 2021. In August 2023, the Moscow City Court sentenced him to 19 years in prison in a special regime colony in an "extremism" case.

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