Who was Alexei Navalny? What to know about Putin's top critic who died in prison.
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Alexei Navalny, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in prison Friday, according to the country's state media.
Navalny was 47. Russian officials did not specify his cause of death.
His death is expected to spark intense backlash. In his last face-to-face meeting with Putin in 2021, President Joe Biden said he made the "devastating" consequences of Navalny's death clear to the Russian leader.
"My prayers are with his family," Vice President Kamala Harris said during remarks at the Munich Security Conference Friday morning. "And if confirmed, this would be a further sign of Putin's brutality. Whatever story they tell, let us be clear: Russia is responsible. And we will have more to say on this later."
Why was Alexei Navalny in jail?
Navalny was being held in one of the country's toughest penal colonies, an Arctic Circle maximum-security prison, on charges related to extremism and fraud.
But his imprisonment was widely viewed as an act of retribution by Putin and the Kremlin, of which Navalny was openly critical.
How long was Navalny locked up?
Navalny was imprisoned January of 2021. He was serving a 19 year sentence when he died.
Navalny had just returned to Russia when he was arrested three years ago. Before that, he was in Germany being treated for poisoning.
An attempt on his life he blamed on Putin, Navalny had been poisoned with a nerve agent during a work trip to Siberia.
What had Navalny said about Putin?
Navalny emerged as one of Putin's most outspoken opponents. Amid protests in 2011, Navalny famously labeled the ruling Russian party one of "crooks and thieves."
He continued speaking out against Putin in his campaign for mayor of Moscow in 2013 against a Kremlin-back incumbent.
Navalny was also critical of Russia's war with Ukraine, telling a Moscow appeal court in 2022, "This is a stupid war which your Putin started ... This war was built on lies."
"One madman has got his claws into Ukraine and I do not know what he wants to do with it - this crazy thief," Navalny said at the time.
Does Alexei Navalny have a family?
Navalny is survived by his wife and two children.
Navalny married his wife, Yulia, in 2000. The pair have a daughter, Daria, and son, Zahar.
What has Trump said about Navalny?
Despite international outcry at the time, then President Donald Trump declined to condemn Russia for Navalny's poisoning in 2020.
"It's tragic. It's terrible, it shouldn't happen. We haven't had any proof yet, but I will take a look," Trump said about the incident in a news conference at the time.
The former president's 2024 Republican opponent Nikki Haley responded to Navalny's death Friday, writing on X, formerly Twitter, "Putin did this. The same Putin who Donald Trump praises and defends."
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who was Alexei Navalny and why was he in Russian prison? What to know.
