Overview
- Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has not been heard from since early December, causing international concern.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed deep concern and called for Navalny's immediate release.
- Navalny's lawyers have been unable to contact him since December 6, and he has been moved from a prison near Moscow to an undisclosed location.
- Navalny's possible transfer to a harsher prison is suspected to be timed with President Vladimir Putin's expected re-election in March.
- Navalny, Putin's main political opponent, was barred from running in elections in 2018 due to a politically motivated fraud charge and is currently serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of 'extremism'.