Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been tracked down to a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, his spokeswoman said on Monday, after supporters lost touch with him for more than two weeks.
Navalny, 47, was tracked down to the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets region, about 1,900 km north east of Moscow, spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said. Navalny's lawyer managed to see him on Monday, Yarmysh said.
"This prison will be much worse than the one that was before," Yarmysh told Reuters TV in Vilnius via video call.
Navalny's new home, known as "the Polar Wolf" colony, is about 60 km north of the Arctic Circle and considered to be one of the toughest prisons in Russia. Most prisoners there have been convicted of grave crimes. Winters are harsh - and temperatures are due to drop to around minus 28 Celsius there over the next week.
"The conditions there are harsh, with a special regime in the permafrost," said Leonid Volkov, an aide to Navalny. He said it was difficult to communicate with prisoners held at the remote site.
Navalny, who had been held at a penal colony 235 km east of Moscow, says he has been imprisoned because he is viewed as a threat by the Russian political elite. As a prisoner, he is unable to run in the election.
He denies all the charges he has been convicted of and casts Russia's judicial system as deeply corrupt. Russia says he is a convicted criminal.
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