Alexei Navalny Dies in Prison

Russia's top opposition politician Alexei Navalny died at the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year-term.

Russia's federal penitentiary service said Navalny, already the target of a poisoning attack before he went to jail, fell ill after going for a walk.

"Navalny felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. Medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called," the prison service said in a statement.

"Resuscitation measures were carried out that did not yield positive results. Paramedics confirmed the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established," it added.

Russian news agencies reported that medics from a nearby hospital were called seven minutes later and spent half an hour trying to resuscitate Navalny.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened an investigation into the death.

A lawyer for Navalny and a regional court said he had actively participated in a video legal hearing, the day before he died, when he did not appear to have any health complaints.

Russian state television briefly reported Navalny's death.

Navalny's defense team said they had not been informed of his death but that a lawyer was going to the remote Kharp prison in the Arctic region to find out what happened.

Western governments have been quick to blame the Kremlin, however.

Navalny had been detained in Russia since January 2021 when he was sentenced to a prison colony for "extremism". That term was extended to 19 years in August last year. That was just the latest in a string of jail terms for charges that included embezzlement.

Navalny mobilized huge anti-government protests before being jailed in 2021, after surviving an attempt to assassinate him by poisoning.