Since the early part of December, nobody seemed to know where imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny (or Alexei) was. He failed to show up for a scheduled hearing and his attorney had reportedly been unable to reach him. Given the recent spate of incidents where critics of Vladimir Putin have accidentally fallen out of hospital windows or been the unfortunate victims of mysterious plane malfunctions, many of Navalny’s supporters have been fearing the worst. But now, after a few weeks of radio silence, Navalny has shown up again, apparently not having fallen victim to defenestration or rapid altitude loss. But he is also no longer in the vicinity of Moscow. His spokesperson said that he is now in a penal colony in Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, which is above the Arctic Circle. She went on to say that Navalny is “doing well” despite his desolate location and that he spoke with his attorney yesterday. (CBS News)

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, whose whereabouts were not known for over two weeks, has been moved to a penal colony in the Arctic, allies said Monday.

The disappearance of Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, who mobilized huge protests before being jailed in 2021, had spurred concerns from allies, rights groups and Western governments.

It signaled a likely prison transfer, which can take weeks in Russia as prisoners are slowly moved by rail between far-flung facilities.

You can look at the location of Kharp (where the penal colony is located) on the map and see that Putin isn’t messing around. They sent Navalny beyond the realms of civilization, literally above the Arctic Circle. Kharp may not technically be “the middle of nowhere,” but you can probably see it from there. Even if you managed to somehow escape on foot, there’s no way you would survive the hike to any other areas of habitation.

Navalny appears to be doing his best to keep up his spirits. He tweeted this morning about being our “new Santa Claus” because of the way he has to dress in the Arctic and the new beard that he grew while being transferred.

1/9 I am your new Santa Claus.

Well, I now have a sheepskin coat, an ushanka hat (a fur hat with ear-covering flaps), and soon I will get valenki (a traditional Russian winter footwear). I have grown a beard for the 20 days of my transportation.

— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) December 26, 2023

He went on to say that while there are no reindeer in the area, there are some “huge fluffy, and very beautiful shepherd dogs.” But he’s still waiting for new, appropriate footwear, which can’t be fun in those conditions.

The entire situation seems rather harsh, even by Putin’s standards. Navalny has already been locked up for just short of three years. Now, just to throw some additional salt in the wound, he’s been transferred to a penal colony above the Arctic Circle. In January. I’m not sure which Russian prison is the worst, but if Putin’s intention is to try to break his spirit, he’s certainly pulling out all of the stops.

Let’s not forget why Navalny is locked up in the first place. Even in Russia, they generally don’t have the audacity to lock people up for simply “criticizing Putin.” But they can always come up with something else. In 2020, Navalny was poisoned by the FSB (the modern version of the KGB) and taken to a hospital in Germany where he nearly died. He was stuck there until January of 2021 when he was finally well enough to be released. He traveled back home to Russia where he was immediately arrested on charges of violating his parole agreement. Yes, despite the fact that he was lying in an ICU bed trying to survive being poisoned by his own government, they arrested him for missing the meeting anyway.

Sadly, that appears to be how life operates in modern Russia under Putin’s government. If you are too critical of the government or (God forbid) attempt to run to replace the current president as Navalny did, they will bar you from the ballot and throw you in prison. Hey… wait a minute. It feels like I’ve heard a similar story from another country lately. Naw… must just be a coincidence.