Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dead, says prison service

Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is dead, the prison service of the region where he had been serving his sentence says.

Navalny, an outspoken critic of President Putin, has been in Russian jail since 2021 on charges widely viewed as politically motivated.

Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's spokesperson, said his team had yet to receive confirmation of the death but his lawyer was travelling to Siberia.

Putin's spokesman said Russian's penitentiary service was looking into Navalny's death but provided no further information.