Arrested Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny says he was transferred to a penal colony near the city of Vladimir. “Hello everyone from the strict detention zone,” Navalny wrote on his Instagram channel today. He was transferred to the IK-6 Melelechowo penal camp the day before. He is currently in quarantine and “doesn’t have much to say”.
Before his transfer, Navalny was imprisoned in a penal colony in Pokrov, about 100 kilometers from Moscow. The Melekhovo penal camp is now 250 kilometers from the Russian capital and, according to Navalny supporters, is “one of the scariest prisons in Russia”. Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Jarmysch, said in May that Melekhovo was “notorious for the fact that his prisoners are tortured and killed”.
Navalny is the most prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is known for exposing corruption in Russia. He was arrested in January 2021 while returning from Germany at Moscow airport. He had previously been treated in Berlin for poisoning he suffered in Russia with a neurotoxin from the Novichok group, for which he blames Putin.