Navalny was transferred to an Arctic colony

Alexei Navalny looks at photographers from a glass cage during an appearance in a Moscow court in 2021. Photo: ALEXANDER ZEMLYANICHENKO/AP

Prisoned Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny, whose whereabouts were unknown for more than two weeks, was transferred to a penal colony in the Arctic.

The disappearance of Russia's most prominent opposition leader, who organized mass protests against Vladimir Putin before being jailed in 2021, has raised concerns among allies, human rights groups and Western governments.

It signaled a likely prison transfer. which in Russia can take weeks as prisoners are slowly moved by rail between distant facilities. .

“We have found Alexei Navalny,” ally Kira Yarmysh said on social networks. “He is now in penal colony No. 3 in the village of Kharp, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.”

“Today a lawyer came to see him. Alexey is doing well,” added Ms. Yarmysh.

Kharpsky district, home to about 5,000 people, is located north of the Arctic Circle.

New house in -on Navalny, known as the Polar Wolf Colony, is considered one of the harshest prisons in Russia. Most of the prisoners there were convicted of serious crimes. Winters here are harsh and temperatures will drop to around minus 28C (-18.4F) over the next week.

It is “one of the northernmost and most remote colonies,” said Ivan Zhdanov, who runs Mr. Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

“Permafrost zone”

“Conditions there are harsh, special regime in the permafrost zone” and very little contact with the outside world, Mr Zhdanov said.

Mr Navalny was jailed for the first time after surviving an attempt on his life by poisoning.

The court extended his sentence to 19 years on charges of extremism and ordered his transfer to a safer and harsher prison colony.

“From the very beginning, it was clear that the authorities wanted to isolate Alexey, especially in front of elections,” Mr. Zhdanov said.

Russia is expected to hold presidential elections in March 2024, easily giving Putin a fifth term as president.

Moscow has for years sidelined opposition figures from elections and political life, and this pressure intensified after the Kremlin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine. 2022.