Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in Arctic prison

Published February 16, 2024 at 7:06 AM EST

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A portrait of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, flowers and candles are laid on a ground as people gather to pay their last respect to Alexei Navalny at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

World leaders are reacting to the Russian state media reports that imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died Friday morning in the so-called “Polar Wolf” colony, among Russia’s harshest prison systems.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the death “underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built,” adding that Russia is responsible.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong talks to Mary Ilyushina, a reporter on the foreign desk of The Washington Post, about Navalny, his work, and the global implications of his death.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.