Russian political prisoner Alexei Navalny comments on imprisonment in Arctic Circle

Joe Fisher
·2 min read
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny delivered comments from an Arctic penal colony after he was found there on Monday. File Photo courtesy of the Moscow City Court Press Service
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny delivered comments from an Arctic penal colony after he was found there on Monday. File Photo courtesy of the Moscow City Court Press Service
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Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Russian dissident Alexei Navalny made his first comments on Tuesday since being transported to an Arctic penal colony.

Navalny described the remote prison, IK-3 in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, in a post on Telegram. He said he has been at the prison since Saturday night.

"I don't say: 'Ho-ho-ho,' but I say: 'Oh-oh-oh,' when I look outside the window, where first it's night, then evening, then night again," Navalny wrote. "I can't entertain you with stories about polar exoticism yet, because I haven't seen anything except a camera. And outside the cell window you can only see a fence standing close."

Navalny was arrested in Jan. 2021, after seeking treatment for poisoning in Germany, violating his probation.

A spokeswoman for Navalny confirmed Monday he had been moved to the penal colony after his family and lawyers had previously said they last had contact with him in early December after he failed to appear for a series of legal hearings.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in his Charite hospital bed in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 15, 2020. Navalny was treated at the hospital after being poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group. File Photo courtesy of Alexei Navalny/Instagram
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in his Charite hospital bed in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 15, 2020. Navalny was treated at the hospital after being poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group. File Photo courtesy of Alexei Navalny/Instagram

Navalny said he did not expect to have any visitors until mid-January because the prison is so remote. It takes about 44 hours by train to reach Kharp from Moscow.

"Therefore, I was very surprised when yesterday the cell doors were opened with the words: 'You have a lawyer,'" he wrote. "He told me that you had lost me, and some were even worried. Thank you very much for your support!"

An anti-corruption activist, Navalny attempted to run against Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2016, after forming a new opposition party called the Progress Party. He was barred from officially challenging Putin after he was arrested for organizing an anti-government demonstration without state approval.

In 2020, Navalny was poisoned and became ill during a flight to Moscow. The longtime Putin critic was placed in a medically-induced coma for more than two weeks and remained hospitalized for several weeks.

"Since I am Santa Claus, you are probably interested in the issue of gifts," Navalny posted. " But I am, after all, Santa Claus of a special regime, so only those who behaved very badly will receive gifts."