West mounts pressure on Russia after Navalny's death in jail

Kremlin critic’s death comes after three years in detention and a poisoning attack

Western nations on Feb 17 mounted pressure on Russia, blaming its leader and the government for the death of leading Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison in opaque circumstances.

Navalny’s death was announced on Feb 16 after three years in detention and a poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

It deprives Russia’s opposition of its figurehead just a month before an election poised to extend President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power and comes at a time of intense repression and as Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine nears its two-year anniversary.

The West blamed Mr Putin and his government for the 47-year-old’s death, which followed months of deteriorating health in harsh detention conditions.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Feb 17 said Navalny’s “heroic opposition to Putin’s repressive and unjust regime inspired the world”.

“We hold the Russian government solely responsible for his treatment and death in prison,” Ms Wong said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

US President Joe Biden was equally blunt, saying: “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”

Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov added: “Alexei Navalny was tortured and tormented for three years... Murder was added to Alexei Navalny’s sentence.”

The death was announced by Russia’s federal penitentiary service, which said Navalny “felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness”.

Russian news agencies reported that medics from a local hospital arrived within minutes and spent more than “half an hour” trying to resuscitate him.

Navalny’s wife, Mrs Yulia Navalnaya, said she held Mr Putin personally responsible and called on the international community to “unite and defeat this evil, terrifying regime”.