Jailed Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny Dies in Arctic Prison

An organizer of mass protests against the ruling party, Mr. Navalny’s sentencing was seen as punishment for his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny looks at photographers from inside a glass cage in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow on Feb. 20, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent political opposition leader and ardent critic of the Putin government, collapsed and died on Feb. 16 in an Arctic penal colony, where he was serving an extended prison term.

Mr. Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, was vocal about official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests. He has been incarcerated since January 2021 following his return to Moscow from Germany, where he was recuperating from a nerve agent poisoning.