Navalny’s associates say unable to locate him in Moscow detention centers after unconfirmed reports he was transferred there

Alexey Navalny’s associates have checked most Moscow detention centers in search of the Russian opposition figure but have not found him, said Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.

“Baza’s version that Alexey is in Moscow [as part of an investigation] hasn’t been confirmed. Investigative procedures aren’t conducted without lawyers. All investigative actions so far have taken place in Vladimir. For eight days, we don’t know where Alexey Navalny is,” Zhdanov wrote on “X,” formerly known as Twitter.

Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, said that rumors about Navalny being under medical observation were unlikely to be true. “We don’t believe these rumors, and we have no confirmation. Alexey has not received any medical care for three years, and he has been denied even a visit to the dentist for more than a year,” Yarmysh wrote.

Navalny’s associates have been unable to locate him for eight 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.

On December 12, the Telegram channel Baza reported that Navalny had been transferred to Moscow in connection with a new criminal case regarding vandalism. Baza did not provide links to sources and noted that this information was preliminary and had not yet been confirmed.