By Will Coffman, Staff Writer

Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition leader to the regime of Vladimir Putin, has died in an Arctic prison where he was serving a three-decade prison term on extremism  charges. Navalny’s body has been returned to his mother.

Navalny was incarcerated at the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle in Kharp, Russia, about 1200 miles northeast of Moscow. His death was announced by the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets AAutonomous District on Feb. 16.

According to Navalny’s colleague Maria Pechikh, he was about to be freed in a prisoner swap for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian hitman serving a life sentence for double murder in Germany, before his death.

Navalny’s death has been widely condemned by much of the world. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement he was “deeply saddened and disturbed.”

“We don’t know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.Biden met with Navalny’s widow and daughter in San Francisco last Thursday, announcing 500 new sanctions on Russia. 

 In 2011, Navalny founded the FBK, or Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organization that has conducted investigations showcasing corruption by Russian government officials. 

After a supposed Putin-backed poisoning in 2020, Navalny was left hospitalized in Berlin. Following the poisoning, Navalny returned to Russia and was imprisoned. This imprisonment of Navalny was widely criticized and met with protest in Russia. 

Navalny would later receive 19 additional years due to further extremism charges that were added on to Navalny’s original sentence. This  decision came at a time when Putin has shown intense suppression of political opponents, especially as the war in Ukraine has continued. 

The death of Navalny is another instance in which the death of a figure at odds with Putin has resulted in serious doubt by Western governments, with the Kremlin strictly limiting the public release of information about his death. 

“(Navalny’s) death was tragic, but I’m not surprised,” Stephen Klayer, a first-year data science major, said.

“I don’t have any big feelings, I’m just not surprised. He’s been  poisoned before, so (Navalny’s death) is not surprising from past events, and with the upcoming election that adds to (his death) being expected,” Quentin Galeano, a first-year history major, said.