Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny collapsed and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony where he was serving a long jail term, the Russian prison service said.
Mr. Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, rose to prominence more than a decade ago with blogs on what he said was vast corruption and opulence among the “crooks and thieves” of Russia’s elite.
The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said in a statement that Mr. Navalny felt unwell after a walk at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) north east of Moscow into the Arctic Circle.
He lost consciousness almost immediately, it said.
“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results,” the prison service said, adding that causes of death were being established.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was told about the death.
Hellbound and Down 