WATCH: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died, according to authorities in the prison where he was being held. Redmond Shannon reports on the reaction to the news and the career of the activist – Feb 16, 2024
Supporters of the leader of Russia’s political opposition, Alexei Navalny, showed up to memorials across the world Friday to mourn his reported death.
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Russian prison authorities said Friday that Navalny, 47, had died while in prison at a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a 19-year sentence.
Memorial service at the Orthodox cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral, in Helsinki, Finland on February 16, 2024 following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison. LEHTIKUVA / EMMI KORHONEN – FINLAND OUT. NO THIRD PARTY SALES.
A Russian man holds a bunch of red carnations in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Small groups of Russian nationals arrived at the Russian Consulate in Istanbul with flowers they intended to leave at the gate in honor of Alexei Navalny. Police however, turned them away, citing a government decree that bars protests at the busy pedestrian street where the mission is located. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel).
Youth react as they gather to lay flowers paying their last respect to Alexei Navalny at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky).
Supporters of Navalny showed up to memorials with signs reading “Putin is a killer,” “We will not forgive,” “Homeland kills,” “do not give up,” and “Putin murderer.”
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The U.S. president put the blame for the reported death squarely on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has previously dismissed Navalny and rarely named him in speeches, sometimes referring to him instead as “that person” or a similar phrase.
“There is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did,” Biden said Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also blamed Putin for the reported death, saying Friday that the apparent death shows “the extent to which Putin will crack down on anyone who is fighting for freedom for the Russian people.”
“There is no question that Alexei Navalny is dead because he stood up to Putin, he stood up to the Kremlin,” Trudeau said.
People attend a protest in front of Russian embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, died Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic).
Russians and Poles gathered before the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, Feb.16, 2024, to mourn Russia’s galvanizing opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who had staged massive anti-Kremlin protests and who died, according to Russia’s prison agency, on Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski).
A man holds a poster showing Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin with blood on his hands during a gathering before the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, Feb.16, 2024, mourning Russia’s galvanizing opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who had staged massive anti-Kremlin protests and who died, according to Russia’s prison agency, on Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski).
About 30 people were detained in St. Petersburg, according to local media, and more than a dozen were detained near a Moscow memorial to political prisoners, according to the OVD-Info monitoring group. The group said arrests also happened in several other cities.
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The Russian embassy in Washington, D.C., was sprayed with a red liquid that resembled blood.
Navalny had been jailed since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recovering in Germany from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.
Navalny had gained traction as a vocal opponent of Putin, calling his United Russia party one of “crooks and thieves.”
He worked to expose corruption in Russia and the waste of public money.
Police officers detain a woman who laid flowers to Alexei Navalny at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo).
The Russian Embassy sign is vandalized with a red liquid substance by a passerby wearing a mask, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Washington. The vandalism happened after Alexei Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, died in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. He was 47. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta).
A woman holds a magazine with a portrait of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in front of the Russian Embassy in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Alexei Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, has died in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. That’s according to Russia’s prison agency. He was 47. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez).
Protesters stage a demonstration opposite the Russian Embassy in London, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Alexei Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, has died in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. That’s according to Russia’s prison agency. He was 47. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung).
AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Hours after his death was reported, Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, spoke at a security conference in Germany.
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She said that if Navalny were in her place, he wouldn’t cancel, so she decided to carry on with her appearance. She said that she was unsure if she could believe the news of his death since it came from Russian sources.
“But if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around Putin, Putin’s friends, his government to know that they will bear responsibility for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband. And this day will come very soon,” Navalnaya said.
Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, reacts as she speaks during the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, died Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Pool Photo via AP).
(Kai Pfaffenbach/Pool Photo via AP)
Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, leaves the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, died Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP).
Many saw Navalny as a sign of hope of taking back the country from Putin’s leadership, who has tightened his grip on Russia even further since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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“It’s hard for me to express my emotions, because I’m really shaken,” supporter Natalia Morozov told Reuters in Paris.
“Navalny was, at least for us, a glimmer of hope, and now we no longer have hope for the beautiful Russia of the future. Now, we no longer have the hope, this hope has been killed by Putin, like all the other hopes of our lives.”
People hold up their mobile phones with lights paying their last respect to Alexei Navalny at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky).
A woman holds a placard with her face painted in the color of blood during a protest in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, died Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi).
A woman holds flowers and a portrait of opposition leader Alexei Navalny during a protest in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Russia’s prison agency says that imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died. He was 47. The Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after a walk on Friday Feb. 16, 2024 and lost consciousness.(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber).
A man sits near a portrait of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with the words reading “forgive us Alyosha (Alexei) This madness will not end” at the the fence of Russian Embassy in honor of Alexei Navalny in Yerevan, Armenia, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (Vahram Baghdasaryan/PHOTOLURE via AP).