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A RUSSIAN pilot who defected to Ukraine with an Mi-8 armoured helicopter has been shot dead in Spain sparking fears of another Kremlin murder.
Maxim Kuzminov, 33, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a parking garage in near Benidorm.
East2W…
There is a dawning recognition that the continent urgently needs to step up its own defense, especially as the U.S. wavers, but the commitments still are not coming.
PUTIN has resorted to recruiting Neo-Nazis and football hooligans to form his own private army – the ruthless Española group.
By gathering die-hard football fans across Russia, the group’s leader Orlov Stanislav – dubbed “The Spaniard” – has created a military unit that has fought in some of the most intense battles of the Ukraine war.
The Española group was formed after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022[/caption]
The group consists of football fans from different teams across Russia[/caption]
The Spaniard, a well-known CSKA fan claimed he fought in the second Chechen War[/caption]
The group has fought in the most intense battles of the war[/caption]
It is estimated to have around 1,000 members today[/caption]
The Española group are recruited through Telegram and then trained in sites near Moscow[/caption]
Ukraine‘s Defence Intelligence confirmed last month that Putin’s United Russia had officially granted the group the status of private military company (PMC).
The unit recruits football thugs, particularly those closer to the Nazi ideology, as well as civilians from poor parts of Russia and occupied territories.
As it gained popularity following the invasion of Ukraine, the battalion ended up fighting in major battles, including in Mariupol, Bakhmut, Soledar, and Vuhledar, according to Lucas Webber, co-founder of the Militant Wire research network.
With “hundreds” of fighters, the volunteer brigade “operates with some degree of independence” from the Russian Armed Forces, he said.
He told The Sun: “Española plays an important role in its outreach to Russia’s ultra/hooligan communities and in drawing recruits and support from these population segments for the war in Ukraine.
“Española appeals to a unique subset of Russia’s far-right militarist ecosystem and is distinct from the neo-Nazi Rusich organisation and the hard-line Orthodox Russian Imperialist Movement.
“Española is a volunteer brigade that operates with some degree of independence from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
“The group has historical ties to the Donetsk People’s Republic forces and has hundreds of fighters.
“Its propaganda describes how it is multifaceted and has artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, sniper teams, drone operators, and more.”
While various rogue mercenary groups have emerged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Española has gradually started to form since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The group – previously associated with the militant group Vostok Battalion – was operating mainly in the Russian-held region of Donetsk.
The group’s leader is Stanislav Orlov, 43, is a prominent figure among CSKA fans.
A radical member of the team’s ultras Red-Blue Warriors, Orlov claims to have joined the Russian army in 1999 and fought in the Second Chechen War.
He is said to have fought Donbas in 2014 alongside other ultras and earned his nickname “The Spaniard” thanks to his language skills as he was able to recruit foreign mercenaries.
Following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Orlov created the Española group as Putin was desperately trying to boost ranks in the frontline – with even ex-international footballer Andrey Solomatin, 47, signing up.
Webber said one of the most visible members of the group is former MMA fighter and Zenit hooligan Mikhail “Pitbull” Turkanov.
Turkanov – who has tattoos of the swastika – has been wounded in combat and has received awards from the Russian military.
Orlov was a hardcore member of the CSKA ultras Red-Blue Warriors[/caption]
The recruits come from Dynamo, Lokomotiv, Spartak, Zenit and other hooligans[/caption]
Stanislav Orlov also known as the Spaniard has been fighting in Donbas since 2014[/caption]
Mikhail “Pitbull” Turkanov is also a member of the private army unit[/caption]
Other members are hooligans from Moscow-based football teams[/caption]
Dr Stephen Hall Lecturer in Russian and Post-Soviet Politics at the University of Bath estimates the elite army unit has roughly 1,000 members and has been actively supported by Russia throughout the war.
He told The Sun: “Orlov probably has close links to someone in the Ministry of Defence.
“He’s been fighting since 2014 in the Donbas and he’s been there for a long time.
“He certainly has a past of being a football thug and he created the Española mercenary group in February 2022 just after the war began – so clearly someone had been preparing.
“They’ve relied heavily on football thugs across the Moscow-based football teams such as Dynamo, Lokomotiv and Spartak.
“They seem to be well prepared, well trained and well equipped by the Russian army.
“The Russian Army has given them a lot of support as they are the ones fighting against Azov the group that Russian state propaganda has stated they’re Nazis and the ones behind the Ukrainian regime.”
Dr Hall notes the “shady” group does not have a strong social media presence – unlike Wagner- but explains how they use Telegram to target recruits.
He added: “It’s quite a shady group whereas in Wagner they very ran their social media campaign Espanola doesn’t have a social media footprint.
“That always leads to the question of who is behind them, and who is protecting them and I say the Ministry of Defence.”
They seem to be well prepared, well trained and well equipped by the Russian army
Dr Stephen Hall
Telegram is widely used across Russia and is “a more effective way of getting the people you want to join,” he adds.
The potential candidates are interviewed through the platform and if successful they are taken for training in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Volunteers are offered a salary of £1,900 a month for at least six months at the frontline, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Russia is also using “insurance payments” to lure civilians into battle – that can vary from £8,700 to £43,500 depending on the severity of the injury.
But Ukraine’s intelligence notes that for most civilians the first battle is a “one-way ticket” as they are used as cannon fodder.
The dead and those seriously injured are registered as “missing” so Russia avoids paying the families.
The notorious Battle of Marseille happened during England’s opening match for Euro 2016.
The massive brawl erupted when Russian football fans attacked England supporters leaving many of them with serious injuries following a 1-1 draw.
14 England fans were left in hospital – including two with life-threatening injuries.
Dad-of-three Stewart Gray was left fighting for his life after being ambushed by hooligans.
His brother Duncan described the scenes as “like a war zone, the worst violence I have ever seen.”
Dr Hall told The Sun: “This is the “beauty” of East European football.
“As we know from 2016 when Russian and English football fans met one another in Marseille – it was definitely eye-opening what Russian fans were doing
“They had these football wars and battles so they were versed in that.”
Lucas Webber added: “Española both leverages its online propaganda apparatus and real-world domestic networks.
“It runs several channels on Telegram and VK. Its propaganda campaign also involves community initiatives and humanitarian work inside occupied regions in Ukraine to boost its profile and grow its ranks.
“One example is the founding of a youth football team in occupied Ukraine.
“This was apparent during the Wagner Group’s mutiny, for instance.”
“In its propaganda, Española presents a patriotic message of soccer ultras overcoming previous divisions to unite over a nationalistic cause.
“The group has sometimes voiced criticisms of the Russian government and military establishment.”
The Española group is one of a long list of units operating in Ukraine.
Apart from Wagner which was hit by the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last summer, other smaller paramilitary forces include Ptok, by energy giant Gazprom, Redut, the Patriot, the Orthodox Brotherhood, ENOT.
They all operate around the world and recruit all types of soldiers – seemingly with Russia’s support.
Volunteers earn a salary of £1,900 – pictured volunteer Chernika (Blueberry)[/caption]
Lucas Webber says the unit is equipped with weapons, sniper teams and drone operators[/caption]
The group also offers insurance payments for those injured on the battlefield[/caption]
Ukrainian intelligence suggests that volunteers are used as cannon fodder in battle[/caption]
PUTIN’S former speechwriter has claimed that the despot was “mentally unstable” when he “ordered” the killing of Navalny.
The shocking claims came shortly after Navalny’s body has gone missing after being handed t…
CHINA has crafted an unstoppable military under Xi Jinping’s ruthless dictatorship which poses the greatest threat to the world order, experts have warned.
As the West steels itself for global conflict, Europe is struggling to keep up with Bei…
RUSSIA was hit by a raging fire in a suspected military drone factory that supplies weapons to Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Footage shows an inferno and extensive damage at the plant – which is believed to be linked to the Kalashnikov firearm…
HUNDREDS of protesters have been arrested after swarming Russian embassies over the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
David Cameron has also scolded Vladimir Putin for his role in Navalny’s death saying “we should hold Putin accountable” as he blasted Russia’s “dreadful” regime.
A man being carried away in St. Petersburg, Russia after attending a service[/caption]
Police officers arrested hundreds in Russia for protesting the death of Alexei Navalny[/caption]
David Cameron called for Putin to be ‘held accountable’ for his and Russia’s role in the death of Navalny[/caption]
A woman battling against cops as they take her away from the protests in Moscow[/caption]
Russian cops detaining a woman in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday after she laid down flowers by a memorial[/caption]
Protesters held placards in London that called Vladimir Putin a war criminal[/caption]
Hundreds of activists held a vigil outside the Russian embassy in London[/caption]
The UK Foreign Secretary labelled Navalny, 47, “an incredibly brave fighter against corruption” in Russia before he spoke out against Putin’s Russia.
He said: “We should be clear about what has happened here. Putin’s Russia imprisoned him, trumped up charges against him, poisoned him, sent him to a Arctic penal colony and now he has tragically died.
“We should hold Putin accountable for this and no one should be in any doubt about the dreadful nature of Putin’s regime in Russia after what has just happened.”
Then when asked if Putin and Russia should face consequences by Sky News, Cameron made his stance clear.
He said: “There should be consequences… look what Putin’s Russia did to him.
“He’s died and that is because of the action that Putin’s Russia took. No one can look at this regime now and not recognise it for the truly dreadful nature that it has.”
His death was confirmed at 14:17 local time on February 16, according to a document given to Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya.
Yarmysh demanded his body was immediately handed over to his family but it has somehow gone missing in Russia, say his family.
A total of 231 people have been arrested in Russia for trying to place flowers to honour Navalny or protesting over his death.
These have taken place at various memorials across the country since Navalny was pronounced dead by authorities on Friday.
The OVD-Info rights group said as of February 17, “more than 101 people” had been detained across 10 cities.
Including 64 people in Russia’s second largest city of Saint Petersburg.
Eleven others were taken away by cops in Moscow as Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don and Tver all saw protesters get in trouble with the law.
The protests were over the death of Russia’s beloved opposition leader.
Prison authorities said Navalny fell unconscious and died after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence.
Navalny, Putin’s leading domestic critic in Russia, had bravely challenged the tyrant’s rule and his horrific war in Ukraine.
Many of his supporters had fears that he would be assassinated while behind bars for his strong support from the public outside of prison.
People were seen gathering across Russia to place flowers at makeshift monuments on Friday – hours after Navalny’s death was announced.
This prompted a strong police force to break up any gatherings under Kremlin orders, social media footage showed.
Protests are illegal in Russia under strict anti-dissent laws and authorities have fiercely clamped down on any rallies supporting Navalny for years.
Authorities in the Russian capital said they were aware of calls online “to take part in a mass rally in the centre of Moscow” and warned people against attending.
Protesters gathered outside the London embassy chanting critical slogans against Putin, such as ‘Putin in is a murderer’, ‘the war must stop’ and ‘love is stronger than the war’.
Many chanted slogans critical of Vladimir Putin, whom they blamed for the activist’s death, holding up signs calling him a “killer” and demanding accountability.
One signs read: “Putin in is a murderer.”
As two others showed “the war must stop” and “love is stronger than the war”.
US President Joe Biden said in remarks from the White House: “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
He added: “Even in prison he was a powerful voice for the truth.”
In Berlin, a crowd of around 500 to 600 people gathered on the city’s Unter den Linden boulevard chanting in a mixture of Russian, German and English.
Some shouted “Putin to the Hague”, referring to the international criminal court investigating possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Police used barriers to close off the road between the Russian embassy and the crowd.
“Alexei Navalny is the leader of the Russian opposition and we always kept hope in his name,” said a Russian man draped in a blue-and-white anti-war flag, giving his name only as Ilia.
In Lithuania, formerly run from Moscow but now a member of NATO and the European Union, protesters placed flowers and candles by a portrait of Navalny.
“He was always with us, so it is all surreal,” said Lyusya Shtein, 26, a Pussy Riot activist who has lived in Vilnius since leaving Russia in 2022.
“None of us yet understand what happened,” she added.
In Russia itself, prosecutors warned Russians against participating in any mass protest in Moscow.
Police watched as some Russians came to lay roses and carnations at a monument to victims of Soviet repression in the shadow of the former KGB headquarters.
Groups also gathered in Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Sofia, Geneva and The Hague.
More than 100 protesters stood outside Russia’s London embassy, holding placards that called Putin a war criminal.
While in Lisbon hundreds held a silent vigil.
Pavel Elizarov, a 28-year-old Russian living in Portugal, said Navalny had been “a symbol of freedom and hope.”
Near the Russian embassy in Paris, where around 100 protesters gathered, Natalia Morozov said Navalny had also been a symbol of hope for her.
What we know so far…
Morozov said: “It’s hard for me to express my emotions, because I’m really shaken.
“Now we no longer have hope for the beautiful Russia of the future“.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, was in Munich on Friday, where a vigil also took place.
She told the Munich Security Conference she could not be sure her husband was dead because “Putin and his government… lie incessantly”.
Yulia said that if confirmed she wanted them to know “they will bear responsibility”.
On the other side of the Atlantic, at a vigil outside the Russian consulate in New York City, Violetta Soboleva said she had volunteered for Navalny’s presidential campaign in 2017.
“I really believed that he’s the one and he can lead Russia to a better future,” said Soboleva, a Russian studying for her doctorate in New York.
She continued: “And now we’ve lost this future forever.”
Cops kept a close eye on a man as he lays flowers on a makeshift Alexei Navalny monument[/caption]
A woman holds flowers and a portrait of Navalny in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin, Germany[/caption]
People place candles and flowers in Lisbon[/caption]
By Nick Parker
TRAGIC Navalny is the latest in a long line of Putin opponents and rivals to die in mysterious circumstances.
His death came just six months after the Russian tyrant’s last public challenger – Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin – died in a fireball jet smash believed to have been caused by a bomb.
Warlord Prigozhin’s days were numbered after he launched a failed coup in which his troops turned on Moscow – and Putin is thought to have directly ordered the air “accident”.
Scores of political opponents, oligarchs and insubordinate business chiefs have met similar suspicious fates in recent years as paranoid Putin shored up his power base.
They include politician Boris Nemtsov, killed with six shots in the back and head in February 2015 on a Moscow bridge; top Russian journalist and Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya who was shot dead in an elevator in June 2014 and Alexander Litvinenko who died in agony in London after being poisoned with radioactive polonium tea in 2006.
Putin agents also attempted to kill Russian turncoat Sergei Skripal with Novichok after he fell foul of the Kremlin regime and fled to Salisbury, Wilts.
It comes after tyrant Putin was snapped smirking yesterday.
Putin appeared sickeningly cheerful as he greeted people mere hours later at a public event.
In a press conference, US President Biden had his say on the death of Navalny.
He said: “Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
“What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality,” Biden continued.
“Putin does not only target the citizens of other countries. He also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people.”
Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics raged on X that Navalny was “brutally murdered by the Kremlin”.
And Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy raged: “Obviously, Putin killed him”.
Navalny, one of Putin’s greatest enemies, was locked away on trumped-up charges after a sham trial and has been vocal about his fears of assassination.
He was first picked up by Vlad’s brutal police in 2021 after returning to Russia following an assassination attempt.
In total he spent 308 days banged up – and there were reports that a sadistic Putin even demanded to see live footage of the 47-year-old undergoing punishment and being humiliated by guards.
Navalny also went missing from a hellish Russian jail last year – and his supporters warned at the time that he could be executed.
He was later found in one of the toughest prisons in the country in Siberia – known as “the Polar Wolf” colony.
Prison chiefs said his death was confirmed at 2.17pm local time but confusion has clouded the shock news.
Navalny’s legal team had received no formal confirmation of his death and his frantic family are still seeking proof that the reports are not more Kremlin lies.
Exiled Russian politician Dmitry Gudkov has fumed that even if Putin did not have Navalny assassinated – his death would still be the tyrant’s fault.
“Even if Alexey died from ‘natural’ causes, they were caused by his poisoning and further prison torture. Blood is on Putin,” he fumed.
A statement from prison officials today read: “On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
An ambulance reached the brutal jail in just seven minutes – getting to Navalny’s side in another two, Interfax reported.
“The doctors who arrived at the scene continued the resuscitation measures that were already being provided by the penal colony’s doctors,” said the local hospital.
“And they spent more than half an hour. However, the patient died.”
He was seen for the last time in court – via video link.
His head was shaved and he looked thin – but appeared to be keeping positive and even made some jokes.
Russians gathered to make their feelings known on Putin as they spoke on their love and respect for Navalny[/caption]
Flowers and signs are placed outside the Russian Consulate for Navalny[/caption]
People gather in front of the Russian Embassy in Madrid, Spain[/caption]
United States President Joe Biden called Putin responsible for the death of Navalny[/caption]
Navalny was locked up on bogus charges at the ‘Polar Wolf’ Colony[/caption]
A woman lights a candle in Sofia, Bulgaria[/caption]
Protesters stood outside the Russian embassy in Prague[/caption]
A poster with a portrait of Navalny with words reading ‘Alexei Navalny killed by the fascist regime’[/caption]
HERE is a timeline that shows how the leader of the opposition went from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin’s biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison – and possibly an early grave.
June 4, 1976 — Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region
1997 — Graduates from Russia’s RUDN university, where he majored in law
2004 — Forms a movement against rampant over-development in Moscow
2008 — Gains notoriety for calling out corruption in state-run corporation
December 2011 — Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russia’s election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official”
March 2012 – Further mass protests break out and Navalny accuses key Kremlin cronies of corruption
July 2012 — Russia’s Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement. He rejects the claims and says they are politically motivated
2013 — Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow
July 2013 — A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison – he appeals and is allowed to continue campaign
September 2013 — Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayor’s race
February 2014 — Navalny is placed under house arrest
December 2014 — Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud
February 2016 — The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial
November 2016 — Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s sentence
December 2016 — Navalny announces he will run in Russia’s 2018 presidential election
February 2017 — The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013
April 2017 – Survives an assassination attempt he blames on Kremlin
December 2017 — Russia’s Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president
August, 2020 – Navalny falls into a coma on a flight and his team suspects he was poisoned. German authorities confirm he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent
Jan 2021 — After five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia
Feb 2021 — A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve 2 ½ years in prison
June 2021 — A Moscow court shuts down Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his extended political network
Feb 2022 — Russia invades Ukraine
March 2022 — Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court
2023 — Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what it calls abuse of Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication & suffering from slow poisoning
April, 2023 — Navalny from inside prison says he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life
Aug 2023 – A court in Russia extends Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years
Dec 2023 – He disappears from his prison as his team fear he could be assassination. He then reappears weeks later in one of Siberia’s toughest prisons – the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony
THERE is no doubt in my mind that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.
On Thursday he made jokes in a typically defiant court appearance via video link.
Alexei Navalny, pictured caged in a cell, in a t…
TYRANT Vladimir Putin was snapped smirking today as Joe Biden claimed he was responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny.
The slimy dictator grinned on a visit in Russia as countless Kremlin foes fiercely slammed his number one enemy’s reported death as a brutal act of murder.
Navalny was locked up on bogus charges at the ‘Polar Wolf’ Colony[/caption]
Protestors today stood outside the Russian embassy in Prague[/caption]
Prison officials at the “Polar Wolf” Colony where Navalny was locked up on bogus charges today claimed that he died after collapsing on a walk.
Navalny, Putin’s leading domestic critic in Russia, had bravely challenged the tyrant’s rule and his horrific war in Ukraine.
And many of his supporters expressed fears that he would be assassinated while behind bars serving a 19-year sentence.
His beloved wife Yulia swore today that the dictator would be held accountable if the shocking reports are true.
But Putin appeared sickeningly cheerful as he greeted people mere hours later at a public event.
In a press conference, US President Biden had his say on the death of Navalny.
He said: “Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
“What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality,” Biden continued.
“Putin does not only target the citizens of other countries. He also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people.”
Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics raged on X today that Navalny was “brutally murdered by the Kremlin”.
And Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy raged: “Obviously, Putin killed him”.
Defiant Russians have lined the streets in Moscow to pay tribute to Navalny after the bombshell reports.
Powerful pictures showed dozens of people crowded together holding up photographs of the Kremlin critic and emotional signs.
Navalny, one of Putin’s greatest enemies, was locked away on trumped-up charges after a sham trial and has been vocal about his fears of assassination.
He was first picked up by Vlad’s brutal police in 2021 after returning to Russia following an assassination attempt.
In total he spent 308 days banged up – and there were reports that a sadistic Putin even demanded to see live footage of the 47-year-old undergoing punishment and being humiliated by guards.
Navalny also went missing from a hellish Russian jail last year – and his supporters warned at the time that he could be executed.
He was later found in one of the toughest prisons in the country in Siberia – known as “the Polar Wolf” colony.
What we know so far…
Prison chiefs said his death was confirmed at 2.17pm local time but confusion has clouded the shock news.
Navalny’s legal team had received no formal confirmation of his death and his frantic family are still seeking proof that the reports are not more Kremlin lies.
His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said she has had no confirmation of his death – but his lawyer is dashing to the jail to find out more.
She said: “The [prison service] in the Yamalo-Nenets region is spreading the news about the death of Alexei Navalny.
“We don’t have any confirmation of this yet.”
Wife and mum two their two children Yulia said in front of a sea of world leaders at the Munich Security Conference today: “I don’t know whether to believe or not this terrible news that we only receive from Russian government sources.
By Nick Parker
TRAGIC Navalny is the latest in a long line of Putin opponents and rivals to die in mysterious circumstances.
His death came just six months after the Russian tyrant’s last public challenger – Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin – died in a fireball jet smash believed to have been caused by a bomb.
Warlord Prigozhin’s days were numbered after he launched a failed coup in which his troops turned on Moscow – and Putin is thought to have directly ordered the air “accident.”
Scores of political opponents, oligarchs and insubordinate business chiefs have met similar suspicious fates in recent years as paranoid Putin shored up his power base.
They include politician Boris Nemtsov, killed with six shots in the back and head in February 2015 on a Moscow bridge; top Russian journalist and Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya who was shot dead in an elevator in June 2014 and Alexander Litvinenko who died in agony in London after being poisoned with radioactive polonium tea in 2006.
Putin agents also attempted to kill Russian turncoat Sergei Skripal with Novichok after he fell foul of the Kremlin regime and fled to Salisbury, Wilts.
“For many years we cannot trust Putin and the Putin government. They always lie.
“But if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they did to our country, to my family. And this day will happen very soon.
“I want to call on the international community and all people to unite and defeat this evil.”
Exiled Russian politician Dmitry Gudkov has fumed that even if Putin did not have Navalny assassinated – his death would still be the tyrant’s fault.
“Even if Alexey died from ‘natural’ causes, they were caused by his poisoning and further prison torture. Blood is on Putin,” he fumed.
A statement from prison officials today read: “On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
An ambulance reached the brutal jail in just seven minutes – getting to Navalny’s side in another two, Interfax reported.
“The doctors who arrived at the scene continued the resuscitation measures that were already being provided by the penal colony’s doctors,” said the local hospital.
“And they spent more than half an hour. However, the patient died.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron echoed comments made by Navalny’s wife today and said: “Putin’s Russia imprisoned him, trumped up charges against him, poisoned him, sent him to an arctic penal colony, and now he’s tragically died.
“We should hold Putin accountable for this. And no one should be in any doubt about the dreadful nature of Putin’s regime in Russia after what has just happened.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a full investigation into the reported death.
“The Secretary-General is shocked by the reported death in detention of opposition figure Alexei Navalny,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Guterres called “for a full, credible and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Navalny’s reported death in custody,” Dujarric added.
HERE is a timeline that shows how the leader of the opposition went from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin’s biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison – and possibly an early grave.
June 4, 1976 — Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region
1997 — Graduates from Russia’s RUDN university, where he majored in law
2004 — Forms a movement against rampant over-development in Moscow
2008 — Gains notoriety for calling out corruption in state-run corporation
December 2011 — Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russia’s election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official”
March 2012 – Further mass protests break out and Navalny accuses key Kremlin cronies of corruption
July 2012 — Russia’s Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement. He rejects the claims and says they are politically motivated
2013 — Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow
July 2013 — A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison – he appeals and is allowed to continue campaign
September 2013 — Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayor’s race
February 2014 — Navalny is placed under house arrest
December 2014 — Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud
February 2016 — The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial
November 2016 — Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s sentence
December 2016 — Navalny announces he will run in Russia’s 2018 presidential election
February 2017 — The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013
April 2017 – Survives an assassination attempt he blames on Kremlin
December 2017 — Russia’s Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president
August, 2020 – Navalny falls into a coma on a flight and his team suspects he was poisoned. German authorities confirm he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent
Jan 2021 — After five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia
Feb 2021 — A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve 2 ½ years in prison
June 2021 — A Moscow court shuts down Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his extended political network
Feb 2022 — Russia invades Ukraine
March 2022 — Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court
2023 — Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what it calls abuse of Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication & suffering from slow poisoning
April, 2023 — Navalny from inside prison says he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life
Aug 2023 – A court in Russia extends Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years
Dec 2023 – He disappears from his prison as his team fear he could be assassination. He then reappears weeks later in one of Siberia’s toughest prisons – the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony
Biden previously warned that the consequences for Russia would be “devastating” if Navalny died in prison.
In his press conference today, Biden said Navalny was “a powerful voice for the truth”.
He said: “Like millions of people around the world I’m literally both not surprised and outraged by the news.
“He bravely stood up to the corruption the violence and all of the bad things the Putin government was doing.
“In response, Putin had him prisoned he had him arrested. He sentenced him to prison he was held in isolation – even all that didn’t stop him from calling out Putin’s lies.
“Even in prison, he was a powerful voice for the truth.”
Calling on Congress to support Ukraine’s war effort, Biden continued: “This tragedy reminds us of the stakes of this moment.
“We have to provide the funding so Ukraine can keep defending itself against Putin’s vicious onslaughts and war crimes.
“You know, there was a bipartisan Senate vote that passed overwhelmingly to fund Ukraine. History is watching the House of Representatives.
“A failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.
“It’s going to go down in the pages of history, it really is, it’s consequential.
A poster with a portrait of Navalny with words reading ‘Alexei Navalny killed by the fascist regime’[/caption]
People gather outside the Russian embassy in London[/caption]
“And the clock is ticking and this has to happen, we have to help now.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said if the claims of his death are true, it serves as further evidence of Putin’s brutality.
He was seen for the last time yesterday in court – via video link.
His head was shaved and he looked thin – but appeared to be keeping positive and even made some jokes.
Former Director of the CIA David Petraeus told Times Radio the news is a “tragedy” and described him as “the most courageous, most significant opponent of Vladimir Putin”.
The head of Navalny’s FBK party Maria Pevchikh had warned last year: “We are worried for his life.
“He’s in the hands of the very same people who tried to kill him before.
“If they once got an authorisation to murder Navalny, do they have another one now or is the last one still valid. Navalny’s life is constantly at a high risk.”
Navalny was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in August 2020, which he claimed was an assassination attempt by the Kremlin.
He was then thrown into prison for 19 years on trumped-up charges of extremism and fraud.
The Kremlin critic has previously warned of Putin’s desperation to silence him, after his team published a list of 200 oligarchs accused of being “directly responsible for the aggressive war launched against Ukraine.”
And a disturbing video interview earlier this year with him revealed he was suffering from mystery stomach aches, seizures and had lost 18lbs in less than a month – sparking fears of a slow poisoning.
People gather at the monument to the victims of political repressions in Saint Petersburg[/caption]
Powerful pictures showed dozens of people crowded together holding up photographs of the Kremlin critic[/caption]
Navalny, with his wife Yulia, right, daughter Daria, and son Zakhar[/caption]
Lyudmila, 83, addresses people gathered to lay flowers paying their last respect to Navalny[/caption]
People take part in a protest opposite the Russian Embassy in London[/caption]
A BOMBSHELL warning from US intelligence suggests Russia could be planning to launch a satellite-destroying weapon armed with a nuke into space.
Mad despot Putin has already tested orbital weapons designed for blasting Western kit – such as th…