Reactions to the shock announcement that Russian political prisoner Alexey Navalny was killed in the remote Arctic penal colony to which he had recently been transferred poured in on Friday, with Western leaders universally accusing the Kremlin of being behind Navalny’s sudden death.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid tribute to the politician calling him “the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy” and saying that he “demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life. My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was “deeply saddened” by Navalny’s death. “He stood up for democracy and freedom in Russia — and apparently paid for his courage with his life. This terrible news shows once again how Russia has changed and what kind of regime is in power in Moscow.”
Speaking from the Munich Security Conference, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “Russia has serious questions to answer.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also speaking in Munich, said Navalny’s death only underscored “the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote simply: “Alexey, we will never forget you. And we will never forgive them.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the news by saying that Navalny had been killed by Putin “like thousands of others, tortured, because of this one monster. Putin doesn’t care who dies, just as long as he stays in power.”
President of the European Council Charles Michel said that Navalny had “made the ultimate sacrifice” for his ideals of freedom and democracy. “The EU holds the Russian regime responsible for this tragic death.”
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili wrote that Alexey Navalny’s death was a tragedy for all defenders of democracy and human rights.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that Navalny’s death demonstrated “the unprecedented brutality of the Russian regime. Navalny fought for democratic values and against corruption.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron called Navalny a brave fighter against corruption, and that “Putin’s Russia fabricated charges against him, poisoned him, sent him to an Arctic penal colony & now he has tragically died. Putin should be accountable for what has happened — no one should doubt the dreadful nature of his regime.”
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics reacted to the news by saying that Navalny “was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin”. He added: “That’s a fact and that is something one should know about the true nature of Russia’s current regime.”
Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov called the news “terrible”, adding: “ I am sure the blood clot, if it was one, was a direct consequence of his 27th spell in solitary confinement. Alexey Navalny was tortured and tormented for three years.”
“Navalny’s doctor told me the body cannot survive that level of torture. Execution has now been added to Alexey Navalny’s sentence. I express my deepest condolences to Alexey’s loved ones: his wife, children, parents and brother,” Muratov added.
Exiled opposition activist Mikhail Khodorkovsky urged people “to go to the polling stations at noon on 17 March and put Alexey Navalny’s name on the ballot paper. If you didn’t know or were in doubt about what to do that day, here is your answer”.
