(Newsworthy.news) – President Joe Biden has said that there can be no doubt that President Vladimir Putin is responsible for the death of jailed Kremlin rival Alexei Navalny on February 16, 2024. Biden said that the White House is considering several options against Russia in response to the death of the 47-year-old opposition leader, who reportedly fell ill and lost consciousness after going for a walk at the Arctic IK-3 penal colony. After UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen two days later, Downing Street released their joint statement expressing outrage at his death and vowing to hold those responsible to account.
Built on the site of the former 501st Gulag in 1961, the Siberian penal colony, also known as Polar Wolf, is well-known for its harsh conditions. Temperatures there can reach -22°F and former prisoners have reported incidents of torture there. After outside contact with Navalny was lost for several days in December 2023, he reappeared in a video stream in January for the first time since moving to the colony and joked about the harsh conditions.
Navalny first experienced poor health soon after his transfer to a penal colony in 2021 and suffered from numbness in his legs, crippling back pains, and sleep deprivation while at Polar Wolf. His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, was prevented from seeing his body when she visited the prison and was told by investigators that “sudden arrhythmic death syndrome” was the cause of death. According to independent media, an unnamed paramedic noted that there were bruises on Navalny’s head and chest. The source suggested that they could be signs of a seizure and that he likely died of a heart attack, but the cause of death has not been independently verified.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the White House would be speaking to several nations about Navalny’s death and former vice-president Mike Pence commented that there was no place in the Republican Party for Kremlin-apologists. Presidential candidate Donald Trump, however, has been criticized for not commenting on Navalny’s death. Rival Republican candidate Nikki Haley suggested that Trump either supports Putin or does not see it as a big deal. The UK has summoned the Russian embassy and made it clear that it holds the Kremlin responsible and demands a full investigation. Navalny’s widow called on the international community to fight Russia’s “horrific” regime after his death.
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