On Friday, February 16th, Alexei Navalny died in a Russian penal colony at the age of 47. Navalny was widely celebrated for his opposition movement against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime.

Navalny, the leader of the unregistered political party “Russia of the Future,” had been held in the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, a settlement within the Arctic Circle about 1200 miles from Moscow. This prison was reportedly nothing short of a nightmare. Prisoners were not only forced to withstand the brutal Siberian weather, but they also endured brutal torture from the guards. The prison, also known as “Polar Wolf,” has been widely feared since its initial construction by political prisoners of the Soviet Union during the era of Joseph Stalin.

Spokespeople from Polar Wolf claim that Navalny complained of feeling ill and collapsed suddenly during a daily walk around the prison. They claim that while the cause of his death is unknown, they believe that he likely died due to the dislodging of a blood clot. 

Few people around the globe believe this claim of a natural death, however. Numerous world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, have spoken out against Putin and accused him of Navalny’s murder. 

“The fact of the matter is, Putin is responsible. Whether he ordered it, he’s responsible for the circumstance,” Biden said. “It’s a reflection of who he is. It cannot be tolerated.”

This was not the first time that Navalny was imprisoned. In 2013, he was sentenced for embezzlement, and he was similarly sentenced again in 2014. It is widely believed that these sentences were carried out because of his opposition to President Putin. Because of his criminal convictions, Navalny was barred from opposing Putin during the Russian presidential election of 2018.

Navalny was hated by many of the top political leaders of Russia, in part due to his vocal opposition to what he saw as rampant corruption in the highest levels of government. He published blogs and spoke out in other ways about the wealthy lifestyles that Russian oligarchs led, while many of his fellow Russian citizens were suffering in poverty. 

In addition to his longer terms in prison, Navalny had been arrested multiple times for leading public protests against the Russian government. 

In 2020, Navalny became so ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow that the pilot had to make an emergency landing. Navalny was eventually taken to a hospital in Berlin, Germany, where he was determined to have been poisoned with a neurotoxin, Novichok, that had been developed by Russian scientists. Navalny survived, but he suffered permanent impairments from the poisoning. 

Russian agents admitted to following Navalny, but Putin and others denied trying to kill him with the poison. Putin reportedly stated that if they had wanted to kill Navalny, “they would’ve probably finished it.” 

Despite knowing that Putin and the Russian leadership wanted him dead, Navalny returned to Russia from Germany in 2021. He was arrested shortly after his arrival back in Russia on charges that included parole violations stemming from earlier imprisonments. Navalny was sentenced to more than two years in prison, but even from jail, he continued to urge his followers to protest Russian corruption. 

He became an even stronger critic of the Russian government following the invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022. Not long after statements and social media posts condemning the invasion, Navalny was sentenced to a longer prison term for what many observers believed to be made-up charges of embezzlement. 

During his long ordeals in Russian prisons, Navalny became even more popular among Russians and others who opposed actions of the Putin-led Russian government. In Russia and eastern Europe, members of his team continued to fight against Russian corruption as they lobbied for his release. His plight has been compared to that of Nelson Mandela, who was wrongly imprisoned for almost 30 years due to his vocal opposition of Apartheid in South Africa. 

Navalny’s death led to an outpouring of support from people throughout the world. Even in Russia itself, demonstrators braved the tense atmosphere to show their support for Navalny’s cause. Approximately 400 of these demonstrators were arrested in cities across Russia for paying tribute to Navalny at monuments. These arrests have caused even more outrage and tension in an already strained Russia.

Even in death, Navalny’s words continue to inspire Russian opposition. In an interview with CNN, Navalny once said, “If they decide to kill me, then it means we are incredibly strong, and we need to use that power and not give up. We don’t realize how strong we actually are.”