Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been located in a prison colony in northern Russia after going missing for nearly three weeks, his spokeswoman said Monday.
The disappearance of Russia's most prominent opposition figure, who mobilized huge protests before being jailed in 2021, had spurred concerns from allies, rights groups and Western governments.
“We have found Alexei Navalny. He is now in IK-3 in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district,” Kira Yarmysh wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
She said Navalny’s lawyer visited him earlier in the day, adding that the anti-corruption crusader is “doing well.”
The district of Kharp, home to about 5,000 people, is located above the Arctic Circle.
Exiled Navalny aide Ivan Zhdanov called IK-3 “one of the most northern and remote” prison colonies in Russia.
“Conditions there are harsh, with a special regime in the permafrost zone. It’s very difficult to reach and there are no systems to deliver letters or [make calls],” Zhdanov wrote.
“The situation with Alexei is a vivid example of how the system treats political prisoners, trying to isolate and suppress them,” he said, linking Navalny’s isolation to Russia’s 2024 presidential elections in which President Vladimir Putin is expected to win a fifth term.