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Kremlin opposition leader Alexey Navalny moved to Arctic penal colony but doing well, spokesperson says
Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, whose whereabouts were not known for over two weeks, has been moved to a penal colony in the Arctic, allies said Monday.
The disappearance of Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, who mobilized huge protests before being jailed in 2021, had spurred concerns from allies, rights groups and Western governments.
EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA / REUTERS
It signaled a likely prison transfer, which can take weeks in Russia as prisoners are slowly moved by rail between far-flung facilities.
“We have found Alexey Navalny. He is now in IK-3 in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District,” his spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said on social media.
“His lawyer visited him today. Alexey is doing well,” Yarmysh added.
The district of Kharp, home to about 5,000 people, is located above the Arctic Circle.
It is “one of the most northern and remote colonies,” said Ivan Zhdanov, who manages Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
“Conditions there are harsh, with a special regime in the permafrost zone” and very little contact with the outside world, Zhdanov said.
Navalny was first jailed after surviving an attempt to assassinate him by poisoning.
A court extended his sentence to 19 years on extremism charges, and ruled that he be moved to a more secure, harsher prison.
“From the very beginning, it was clear that authorities wanted to isolate Alexey, especially before the elections,” Zhdanov also said.
Russia is scheduled to hold a presidential vote in March. President Vladimir Putin is expected to easily win a fifth term.
While Navalny’s location was still unknown, Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff, said on social media that, “The fact that this is happening right now (although Navalny should have been transferred to another colony two months ago) — now that ‘elections’ have been announced and Navalny’s team has launched the ‘Russia without Putin’ campaign — is 0% accidental and 100% directly political manual control from the Kremlin.
“It is no secret to Putin who his main opponent is in these ‘elections.’ And he wants to make sure that Navalny’s voice is not heard. This means that everyone should become Navalny’s voice,” Volkov said.
Moscow has for years sidelined opposition figures from elections and political life, a clampdown that accelerated after the Kremlin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in 2022.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
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Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.