Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny located in penal colony 3 weeks after contact lost

Associates of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on December 25 that he has been located at a prison colony above the Arctic Circle, nearly three weeks after contact with him was lost. Navalny, the most prominent foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. He had been imprisoned in the Vladimir region of central Russia, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow, but his lawyers said they had not been able to reach him since December 6.

His spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was located in a prison colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenetsk region about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.