Just over three years after he was imprisoned in Russia, the Putin critic Alexei Navalny has died. The news was announced by the local administration of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service shortly before 2:30 p.m. Moscow time.

In a statement, the prison service said: ‘In correctional colony No. 3 the convict A.A.Navalny fell ill after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but did not yield positive results. Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established.’

It was not stated when Navalny is reported to have died. Navalny’s team say they have yet to receive any official confirmation of his death. His lawyer is currently en route to the Polar Wolf colony where he was being kept, with the team promising to convey any updates they have. According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Putin has been informed of his death. Just yesterday he appeared in a court hearing via video link seemingly in good health. He can be seen laughing and confidently addressing the court.

At the time of his death Navalny was serving out a 15-day period in a punishment cell. According to his press secretary Kira Yarmush this was the 27th time he had been sent into isolation since he was imprisoned – he had, she said, cumulatively spent 308 days of his imprisonment in these punishment cells.

Naturally, speculation is already beginning as to what caused Navalny’s premature death. According to the Russian TV channel RT and the Telegram channel 112, a ‘detached blood clot’ was responsible – with no other details given. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

It is too early to say definitively whether Navalny’s death occurred naturally or with the backing of the Kremlin. It is no secret that Navalny has long had a target on his back for his vocal opposition to Putin and his regime. In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok by FSB agents sanctioned by the Kremlin, and after three years spent in harsh punishment cells, his health had significantly weakened and medical attention denied to him. In court appearances over the past few years he was gaunt and had lost a significant amount of weight, but made an effort to appear cheerful and joke with the court.

In December, the 47-year-old disappeared in the system for nearly three weeks after his lawyer was told he was no longer at the penal colony in Vladimir where he was previously being held. Navalny resurfaced on Boxing Day in the notoriously brutal Polar Wolf colony in the Arctic Circle. Appearing in person for the first time in January since being transferred, he was able to give a little detail about his situation, saying he was ‘fine’ and being kept in conditions ‘much better than in Vladimir’.

For a long time, Putin was said to fear Navalny so much he refused to use his name when he spoke about him. Many of Navalny’s supporters also believed he had a level of protection due to his fame for speaking out against the Russian president. Sadly that appears to no longer be true.

After Navalny’s imprisonment in 2021, and subsequent extensions of his sentence, hundreds of Russians took to the streets in protest. Following the repression introduced by the Kremlin since the invasion of Ukraine, times are now different. But nevertheless, all eyes will be on Russia to see whether ordinary people believe the Kremlin’s story of how Navalny died – and how they react to the news.