Alexei Navalny was found in the “Polar Wolf” prison in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District in the Russian Arctic.
Topline
Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, has been located in a high security prison in the Russian Arctic—21 days after he disappeared from a penal colony where he was serving a 21-year sentence.Key Facts
Navalny was moved to a prison in Kharp, a small settlement in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh confirmed in a post on X.
According to Navalny’s lawyer Ivan Zhdanov, the “Polar Wolf” prison facility in Kharp is “one of the northernmost and most remote colonies in general,” located in the permafrost zone within the Arctic Circle.
The prison does not have a letter-writing system in place, and does not allow access to Zonatelecom, the app used by lawyers to communicate with clients in pretrial detention, Zhdanov said.