Russia moves Navalny to Arctic penal colony, spokeswoman says

Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been moved to a penal colony in an Arctic region of northern Russia, his spokeswoman said on Monday after supporters lost touch with him for more than two weeks.

Navalny was tracked down to the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets region, about 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow, spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said.

Navalny’s lawyer managed to see him on Monday, Yarmysh said.

Navalny’s allies, who had been preparing for his expected transfer to a “special regime” colony, the harshest grade in Russia’s prison system, said he has not been seen by his lawyers since Dec. 6 and raised the alarm about his fate.

“Many thanks to our supporters, activists, journalists and the media who are concerned about Alexei’s fate and who do not get tired of writing about the situation,” Navalny lawyer Ivan Zhdanov said.

Zhdanov said his supporters sent 618 requests for information about the location of Navalny, who had been held at a penal colony 145 miles east of Moscow.