* Navalny, the most prominent Russian Opposition leader has been discovered in the Yamal- Nenets region.
* Lawyer visits Navalny at prison colony in the Arctic.
* Fears had been raised about his fate.
Moscow jailed Russian opposition leader and Putin critic Alexei Navalny has been tracked down to a penal colony north of the Arctic circle his spokesperson said on Monday after supporters lost touch with him for more than two weeks. Navalny, 47 was tracked down to the IK- 3 penal colony in the Kharp of the Yamal- Neggets region about 1900km (1200)miles north east of Moscow, spokewoman Kira Yarmysh said. Emphasizing that he had been visited by his lawyer and that the prison will be much more worse than the one that was before criticising Putin for trying to make his life as unbearable as it can possibly be.
Navalny allies who had been preparing for his expected transfer to a special regime colony, the harshest grade Russian prison system said his lawyers had not seen him since December 6 raising alarm about his fate. Navalny's new home known as " the polar wolf colony" is considered to be one of the toughest prisons in Russia with most prisoners their being convicted of grave crimes. It is characterised by harsh winters with temperatures due to fall by 28°C over the next week. About 60km north of the Arctic circle, the prison was founded in the 1960's as part of the what was once the GULAG system of forced Soviet labour camps. Navalny who has been held at the penal colony 145 miles east of Moscow is viewed as a threat by the Russian political elite and unable to stand in the next elections due to his prisoner status.
Navalny describes the Russian judicial system as deeply corrput saying he has wrongly been convicted as a criminal on counts of instigating violence against the government. Navalny earned admiration from Russia's desperate opposition returning from Germany where he had been treated for what Western Laboratory tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent. Navalny says he was poisoned in Serbia in August 2020. The Kremlin denied having tried to kill him and said there was no evidence he was poisoned with a nerve agent. He's supporters cast him as future Russian leader who will one day walk free from jail to lead his country though it is unclear how much support Navalny has made Russia.
