Russian dissident Alexei Navalny dies in prison

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has reportedly died in prison according to Russian media outlets.

Last year, Navalny was moved to a penal colony in the Arctic where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence in what was considered a politically-motivated attack.

Officials from the Yamalo Nenets district stated that the political dissident felt "unwell" after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness.

No cause of death has yet been detailed.

Navalny was a Russian opposition politician, anti-corruption activist and major political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He came to international prominence for organising demonstrations against President Putin and his government, running for office and advocating for anti-corruption reforms.

In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned and spent months recovering in Berlin. He was arrested on his return to Moscow in January 2021. Navalny was on a hunger strike in March 2021 to protest his lack of access to medical care. In June 2021, a Russian court banned Alexei Navalny’s regional offices and his Anti-Corruption Foundation, both now classified as extremist and undesirable by the Russian authorities.