Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in a Siberian prison in 2024, sparking global outcry and evidence linking Russia to his 2020 poisoning.

Alexei Navalny, a leading Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist, died in February 2024 at age 47 while imprisoned in a Siberian penal colony. He had been serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges, widely seen as politically motivated. Navalny, who survived a 2020 Novichok poisoning he blamed on Russia’s government, remained a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin from prison. In 2026, UK and allied intelligence concluded the Russian state was responsible for the poisoning, citing forensic evidence of a toxin derived from a dart frog. His death prompted international condemnation, with five European nations reporting Russia to the OPCW for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention. Navalny was recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.