Putin critic Alexei Navalny found dead in prison

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison, Al Jazeera reported on Friday, citing state media.

The death of the jailed Russian-opposition leader, 47, has been reported by state media which further cited the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence.

Al Jazeera cited a statement put out by state media quoting the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region which said that Navalny 'felt bad' after a walk and lost consciousness 'almost immediately'.

'Medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called. Resuscitation measures were carried out which did not yield positive results. Paramedics confirmed the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established,' the prison statement read.

Further details are awaited.

On the ocassion of New Year this January, he had sent out a message on social media stating that he does not feel lonely and is in a 'great' mood, but he still misses spending time with his family and friends in person.

In a New Year's Eve message posted on social media by his team, Navalny was quoted as saying that this will be the third time 'I have taken the traditional family New Year's Eve photo with Photoshop'.

"I am trying to keep up with the times, and this time I asked an artificial intelligence to draw me. I hope it turned out something fantastic -- I will not see the picture myself until the letter with it arrives on Yamal," Navalny had said, according to CNN.

At that time, he was serving his term at the Russian Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region's IK-3 prison colony.

Navalny has been behind bars since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Prior to his arrest, he campaigned against corruption and organised major anti-Kremlin protests.

He has since received three prison terms and spent months in isolation in Penal Colony Number 6 for alleged minor infractions.

A court extended Navalny's sentence to 19 years on 'extremism' charges and ruled that he be moved to a more secure, harsher prison.

Notably, Navalny had, time and again rejected all charges against him as politically motivated.