Putin spokesman says Navalny’s whereabouts not Kremlin’s concern

When asked about Alexey Navalny’s whereabouts, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin had “neither the intention nor the ability to track the fate of prisoners and the process of their [incarceration],” reports TASS. Peskov added that Navalny was “one prisoner who, according to the law, was found guilty and is serving his sentence, and any intervention by anyone, including the United States of America, we consider unacceptable and impossible.”

Navalny’s associates have been unable to locate him for seven days. On December 7 and 11, he failed to appear by video call in court due to what prison officials called issues with the prison’s electrical system.

On December 11, employees at Penal Colony No. 6 in Russia’s Vladimir region, where Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has been held since June 2022, said that Navalny is “no longer listed” in the prison’s roster of inmates, according to the politician’s lawyer.