Putin critic Alexei Navalny dead at 47, Russian officials say

 Russia's prison agency announced on Friday that prominent Vladimir Putin critic and opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died at the age of 47.

According to the Associated Press, the Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after taking a walk on Friday and fainted. An ambulance arrived to try to rehabilitate him, but he died, the statement said.

“We have no confirmation yet,” Navalny's spokesman said in a post on Twitter.

Kira Yarmysh said, "Alexey's lawyers are currently going to Kharap. We will report on it as soon as we have some information."

Flashback: Russian opposition leader Navalny's team finally finds him in remote prison colony after 20 days of search

Russia's prison agency announced on Friday that prominent Vladimir Putin critic and opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died at the age of 47.

According to the Associated Press, the Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after taking a walk on Friday and fainted. An ambulance arrived to try to rehabilitate him, but he died, the statement said.

“We have no confirmation yet,” Navalny's spokesman said in a post on Twitter.

Kira Yarmysh said, "Alexey's lawyers are currently going to Kharap. We will report on it as soon as we have some information."

Flashback: Russian opposition leader Navalny's team finally finds him in remote prison colony after 20 days of search

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that Navalny's "death in a Russian prison and the concern and fear of one man only underscore the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built."

“Russia is responsible for this,” Blinken said. “We will speak to many other countries concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports prove true.”

In 2021, after meeting with Putin in Geneva, Switzerland, President Biden was asked what would happen if Navalny died in Russian custody.

"I made it clear to them that I believe the consequences for Russia would be devastating," Biden said.

Flashback: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny sentenced to 19 years in prison

Navalny has previously organized anti-government protests and run for office to advocate for reforms against corruption in Russia. He was the victim of an alleged assassination attempt in 2020, when he was poisoned with a suspected Novichok nerve agent.

He remained in a coma for several weeks while doctors in Germany fought to keep him alive. He accused Putin of being responsible for poisoning him.

Navalny then returned to Russia in 2021, when authorities immediately arrested him and later sentenced him to 19 years in prison on extremism charges. His team has repeatedly raised concerns about his treatment after his return and Navalny has said the allegations were politically motivated.

The remote area where Navalny was held is notorious for long and harsh winters. Kharp is about 60 miles from Vorkuta, whose coal mines were part of the Soviet Gulag prison-camp system.

"It was definitely Vladimir Putin's decision," Fox News contributor Dan Hoffman told "Fox & Friends." "I think Vladimir Putin sees this murder, Navalny's murder, as the first to demonstrate to his people, don't mess with me as the elections approach."

Hoffman said Putin's strategy of torturing critics is a way to take advantage of "straight-up mafia extortion" with the US.

Reactions of world leaders are coming on Navalny's death on Friday.

"Apparently he was killed by Putin. Like thousands of others who have been tortured," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted as saying by AFP.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a post on Twitter that "As one of Russian democracy's most ardent supporters, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life."

According to the Associated Press, whenever Putin spoke about Navalny, he took care never to mention the activist by name, in an apparent effort to downplay his importance, referring to him as "that person " or refer with similar words.

Last August, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia's Wagner Group, which challenged Putin's rule, was killed in a plane crash outside Moscow. The White House subsequently formally acknowledged that the government believed Prigozhin was murdered by Putin.