[Source: BBC]
Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been removed from the penal colony where he was serving his sentence and his whereabouts are unknown, his spokeswoman has said.
Kira Yarmysh wrote on social media that Melekhovo deal officials had said he was no longer registered there.
The White House said it was “deeply concerned” through the reports.
Navalny’s advisers had hoped he would be transferred to a stricter penal regime after his criminal sentence was extended.
They claim that his disappearance is related to election advertisements.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his goal of running for next March.
In August, Navalny was convicted of founding and financing an extremist organization, which he denies, and sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison.
He had previously been sentenced to nine years in prison for probation violations, fraud and contempt of court. All charges against him are considered to be politically motivated.
He was told he would continue his incarceration in a “special regime colony,” a type of criminal usually reserved for harmful criminals, repeat offenders and those facing life in prison.
Navalny’s relatives said Monday they had heard from him for six days.
He had been absent from several recent court appearances, which he has in the past attended by video link. Prison authorities blamed the absences on technical problems at the colony.
Ms. Yarmysh then said that lawyers waiting for news in Melekhovo, 235 kilometers (145 miles) east of Moscow, and some other nearby settlement, had been told that she had not registered in either place.
His assistant Leonid Volkov said it was “0% coincidence and 100% direct political playbook from the Kremlin. “
“It’s not a secret for Putin who his main opponent is in these ‘elections’,” he said.
“And he needs to make sure that Navalny’s voice is not heard. So each of us will have to listen to Navalny’s voice. “
For more than a decade, Navalny has sought to expose corruption at the center of Russian power. His video investigations have been viewed tens of millions of times online.
A charismatic activist, he will be the only Russian opposition leader capable of mobilizing large numbers of people across Russia to participate in anti-government protests.
But in 2020, he poisoned it in Siberia with what Western labs later proved to be a nerve agent.
A subsequent report by investigative outlet Bellingcat and Russian news outlet The Insider implicated several agents of Russia’s internal security service, the FSB, in the attack.
After recovering from the attack, Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 despite warnings that he could be arrested. He was arrested immediately upon arrival at Moscow airport.