The reported death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny marks yet another instance where the manner of a prominent Kremlin critic’s passing has raised suspicion.
Prison authorities in Russia said Friday that Navalny had died at the age of 47 in a penal colony in the Article Circle. He had reportedly felt unwell after taking a walk, lost consciousness and then died.
His death saw Western leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden, cast blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government for Navalny’s demise.
During Putin’s time in power, other outspoken critics of the Kremlin have died in a variety of murky circumstances, including via poison and violence.
Navalny himself survived a suspected poisoning just a few years before his death. Putin denied the claims.
U.S. President Joe Biden says ‘we don’t know exactly what happened’ to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was reported dead by Russian officials. But Biden says there’s ‘no doubt’ Navalny’s death was a consequence of Russian officials — and Vladimir Putin.
Plane crash kills Prigozhin
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the private military company Wagner Group, which was fighting in Ukraine, found himself at odds with Moscow after leading a short-lived mutiny last June.
He loudly complained about Moscow’s decisions on the battlefields of Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022, and eventually a group of his fighters crossed the Russian border in what appeared to be an attempted coup.
The act of rebellion lasted just hours, but the situation raised Putin’s ire.
Reports emerged that Prigozhin would leave the country and go to Belarus.
Two months later, a plane crashed carrying the 62-year-old Prigozhin and nine other people. Everyone on board the flight died.
Fatal shooting of Nemtsov
Nine years ago, Boris Nemtsov was walking along a bridge near the Kremlin when he was hit by shots fired from a passing car.
The 55-year-old Russian opposition leader had previously served as the country’s deputy prime minister in the late 1990s.
A Russian court later convicted five men in the killing of Nemtsov, though his allies said the probe into his death had been a coverup.
Litvinenko poisoned
A cup of tea laced with a radioactive isotope led to the death of Alexander Litvinenko nearly two decades ago.
The former KGB officer turned Kremlin critic fell ill after drinking the tea on Nov. 1, 2006. Twenty-two days later, he died in a London hospital at age 43.
Moscow denied involvement in his death, but the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2021 that Russia was responsible for his killing.
A separate British inquiry had previously concluded that Putin had probably approved a plan to have Litvinenko killed.