'Fine' after transfer to Arctic penal colony, says Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny

Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, claimed on Tuesday that he was “fine” following a “pretty exhausting” 20-day trip from his jail outside Moscow to a correctional camp beyond the Arctic Circle. Supporters of Navalny announced on Monday that the critic of the Kremlin, whose whereabouts had been a mystery for almost two weeks, was now in the far north of Russia in a correctional colony, where his attorney had paid him a visit. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’m totally relieved that I’ve finally made it,” Navalny wrote on X. “I’m still in a good mood, as befits a Santa Claus,” referring to his winter clothing and beard. According to the US State Department, it is “deeply concerned for Mr. Navalny’s well-being and the conditions of his unjust detention.” After surviving a poisoned murder attempt, Navalny organised massive anti-government rallies before being imprisoned in 2021. He has spent the most of his time in prison in the IK-6 penal colony in the Vladimir area, around 250 kilometres (155 miles) east of Moscow. Last August, a judge sentenced him to 19 years in jail on extremism charges and ordered that he be transferred to a tougher special regime prison that often houses exceptionally dangerous convicts. Navalny said on X that he landed to the Arctic correctional camp on Saturday and received a visit from his lawyer on Monday. “I didn’t expect anyone to find me here before mid-January,” he wrote, adding that he had seen little of his surroundings except for a snow-covered adjoining cell used as a yard and a fence outside his window. “Unfortunately, there are no reindeer, but there are huge fluffy, and very beautiful shepherd dogs,” he said.