Putin critic Navalny dies in Arctic Circle jail

Russia's most significant opposition leader for the past decade, Alexei Navalny, has died in an Arctic Circle jail, reported British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), quoting the prison service.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vociferous critic, Navalny was serving 19 years on extremism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated.

His wife Yulia has appealed to the international community "to help punish this regime," said the BBC report.

Earlier in August, Navalny was sent to another 19 years imprisonment, which was termed by Finland politically motivated.

Three years have passed since the assassination attempt through poisoning of Navalny on 20 August 2020 in Russia by using a toxic nerve agent of the “Novichok” group, banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which the Russian Federation is a State Party.

Earlier in 2021, the then Prime Minister and Foreign Minister protested the prison sentence of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny when he was sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment.