Overview

• Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been located in a remote Arctic prison known as 'Polar Wolf' after being missing for 20 days.
• Navalny's transfer to the harsh penal colony is seen as an attempt by the Kremlin to limit his influence ahead of the upcoming Russian presidential elections in March 2024.
• Navalny, who is serving a 19-year sentence on an extremism conviction, managed to send a message to his supporters, jokingly referring to himself as 'Santa Claus' due to his new Arctic location.
• His supporters had grown increasingly worried after he failed to appear at several court hearings and lost contact with him for weeks.
• Navalny's resilience and humor in such harsh conditions have been described as remarkable by observers.