Alexei Navalny's death in a Russian prison and the findings he was poisoned

His sentences lengthened and his isolation deepened in 2023. In April an aide said Navalny was ill and might have been poisoned.^[10] In August a court convicted him of extremism and sentenced him to 19 years.^[11][12] The United States sanctioned Russian operatives accused in his 2020 poisoning.^[13] In December his allies lost contact with him for nearly three weeks before he was located in a penal colony above the Arctic Circle.^[14][15]

Navalny died in the colony on February 16, 2024, at 47.^[2] Hundreds of mourners were detained, and his mother fought to recover his body.^[16][17][18] Thousands attended his funeral in Moscow under a heavy police presence.^[19] Putin said he had agreed to swap Navalny for prisoners held in the West.^[20]

His widow vowed to continue his fight,^[21] while those around him faced reprisals. An ally was attacked in Lithuania,^[22] his lawyers were sentenced to prison,^[23] and a Russian court ordered his widow's arrest.^[24] His memoir was published after his death.^[25]

Evidence that he had been poisoned emerged later. In September 2025, his widow said two independent labs had found he was poisoned,^[3] and in February 2026 five European countries said their findings conclusively showed a toxin from poison dart frogs in his body.^[4]