Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny cast his vote for the first time in weeks on Tuesday from the IK-3 penal colony in Siberia. He says through his spokesman: “Don't worry about me.” Get to know X. In addition, Navalny, who is serving a 19-year prison sentence for “extremism,” joked that his long beard makes him look like Santa Claus. He also thanked the people who supported him and wished everyone a happy holiday. His spokesman said Monday that Navalny was doing well “under the circumstances.”
The question is how Navalny is really doing. His team did not hear from him for weeks until Monday. The opposition politician was previously detained in the notorious IK-6 penal colony, east of Moscow, and sometimes managed to spread messages through lawyers. This stopped when lawyers were no longer allowed to see him. On Monday, his team was able to find him after three weeks, discovering that he was being held in the IK-3 penal colony in Siberia, about two thousand kilometers from Moscow.
According to Ivan Zhdanov, a member of Navalny's team, the conditions in the camp are harsh. “It is very difficult to get there, letters cannot be delivered and phone calls cannot be made.” In recent days, the temperature has reached around -10 degrees during the day in Charb, the place where the IK-3 penal colony is located and which has long winters.
Navalny's lawyers believe that the transfer is linked to the presidential elections in Russia, which will be held in March 2024 and which President Vladimir Putin will win. Someone close to him had previously said that the Russian authorities wanted to isolate Navalny so that Putin would not face criticism from Navalny before those elections.
