Brave Alexei Navalny ‘poisoned & tortured’ in hellhole prison ‘on direct orders of Putin’ – as chief jailer revealed

THE identity of Alexei Navalny’s chief jailer when he was "poisoned and tortured on Putin's orders" has been revealed.

Colonel Vadim Kalinin, 51, is the governor at the Arctic hellhole jail "Polar Wolf" where Navalny was being imprisoned before his death.

Prison authorities said Navalny fell unconscious and died after a walk at feared jail where he was serving a three-decade sentence.

His death was confirmed at 14:17 local time on February 16, according to a document given to Navalny's mother, Lyudmila.

But his family and friends have been left devastated and accused the Russian authorities of "lying" after they were promised his body would be sent to them but its been "delayed".

Navalny, Putin's leading domestic critic in Russia, had bravely challenged the tyrant's rule and his horrific war in Ukraine.

Many of his supporters had fears that he would be assassinated while behind bars for his strong support from the public outside of prison.

This has prompted claims that Navalny was actually killed on the direct orders of Putin by someone in the prison.

Many are suspicious by the circumstances surrounding his death after he was seen laughing and joking with a judge on a video call Thursday.

His family also said he was in good health when they visited him in jail just three days before his death.

Respected Russian political analyst Ekaterina Shulman told in Russian: “We don't have too many reasons to suspect a natural death.”

He had been “cheerful and healthy” in the days before his death.

"We see an intentional murder in front of our eyes, not something else," she said.

“Not even death from hard conditions (in the Arctic jail).”

People in Russia have said he could have potentially been drugged or poisoned inside the colony run by Colonel Kalinin.

Former FSB colonel Gennady Gudkov, 67, an opposition politician like Navalny, backed these theories.

He said: “He was kept… in torture conditions.

“Either his organism did not overcome such torture (or) they might have given some medication that causes heart failure, they could have given a poison.

“We will only learn the truth when Putin is gone. The fact that they killed him is beyond any doubt.”

Ivan Zhdanov, director of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation revealed Kalinin’s identity alongside the chilling message: “Every evil has a name. Specific people are responsible for lawlessness committed for political reasons.”

Kalinin’s wife Natalia, 48, and son Daniel, 25, also work in the same jail.

Rumours continued to swirl across the world after just six minutes after Navalny’s death, news outlet reported he likely died of a blood clot -despite no autopsy being done yet

Others are also believe Russia has lied about his time of death.

Just 13 minutes after his death, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the situation, leading some to say he had been dead for some time before the official announcement.

Journalist Sergei Dobrynin told Nemalevich Telegram channel: “I think he died much earlier (than the official time) -  that’s why they managed to prepare a release and send an ambulance to confirm his death.”

Prominent UK-based Russian exiled businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin has also said Navalny was killed on the direct orders of Putin.

He was asked who would have to grant permission to kill such a figure.

He answered: "Only on Putin’s order.

“This is a strict power vertical which works obediently in political cases. When we speak about getting rid of political rivals, this can only be done at the direct order from Putin.

“Direct order. No other way.”

He continued talking about how Putin had likely ordered the killing to "mock the West".

“In carrying out the killing, (Putin) was mocking the West and its powerlessness to stop him doing as he wished," Chichvarkin said.

“The (Putin) regime has realised that they are absolutely unpunishable (by the West).

“This was a demonstration of total impunity. And you can’t stop me any more."

Navalny’s corpse is reportedly not in the morgue in Salekhard - on the Arctic Circle - where his family was told by officials it had been taken to.

Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said: “The lawyer and Alexei’s mother arrived at the Salekhard morgue.

“It is closed, despite the colony’s assurances that it is working and Navalny’s body is there.

“The lawyer called the phone number indicated on the door. He was told that he was the seventh person to call today.

“They don’t have Alexei’s body in the morgue.”

Russian authorities say they delayed the release of the body because they haven't found the cause of death yet.

“It is obvious that they are lying and doing everything not to give up the body. Now the Investigative Committee directly says that until the check is completed, Alexei’s body will not be given to relatives.”

The results are now not expected to be announced until next week.

A total of 231 people have been arrested in Russia for trying to place flowers to honour Navalny or protesting over his death.

WORLDWIDE REACTIONS

David Cameron scolded Vladimir Putin for his role in Navalny's death saying "we should hold Putin accountable" as he blasted Russia's "dreadful" regime.

He said: "There should be consequences... look what Putin's Russia did to him.

"He's died and that is because of the action that Putin's Russia took. No one can look at this regime now and not recognise it for the truly dreadful nature that it has."

Protesters gathered outside the London embassy chanting critical slogans against Putin, such as "Putin in is a murderer", "the war must stop" and "love is stronger than the war".

Many chanted slogans critical of Vladimir Putin, whom they blamed for the activist's death, holding up signs calling him a "killer" and demanding accountability.

One signs read: "Putin in is a murderer."

As two others showed "the war must stop" and "love is stronger than the war".

US President Joe Biden said in remarks from the White House: "Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny's death."

He added: "Even in prison he was a powerful voice for the truth."

Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics raged on X that Navalny was "brutally murdered by the Kremlin".

And Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy raged: "Obviously, Putin killed him".

In Berlin, a crowd of around 500 to 600 people gathered on the city's Unter den Linden boulevard chanting in a mixture of Russian, German and English.

Some shouted "Putin to the Hague", referring to the international criminal court investigating possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Police used barriers to close off the road between the Russian embassy and the crowd.

"Alexei Navalny is the leader of the Russian opposition and we always kept hope in his name," said a Russian man draped in a blue-and-white anti-war flag, giving his name only as Ilia.

In Lithuania, formerly run from Moscow but now a member of NATO and the European Union, protesters placed flowers and candles by a portrait of Navalny.

"He was always with us, so it is all surreal," said Lyusya Shtein, 26, a Pussy Riot activist who has lived in Vilnius since leaving Russia in 2022.

"None of us yet understand what happened," she added.

In Russia itself, prosecutors warned Russians against participating in any mass protest in Moscow.

Police watched as some Russians came to lay roses and carnations at a monument to victims of Soviet repression in the shadow of the former KGB headquarters.

Groups also gathered in Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Sofia, Geneva and The Hague.

More than 100 protesters stood outside Russia's London embassy, holding placards that called Putin a war criminal.

While in Lisbon hundreds held a silent vigil.

Pavel Elizarov, a 28-year-old Russian living in Portugal, said Navalny had been "a symbol of freedom and hope."

Near the Russian embassy in Paris, where around 100 protesters gathered, Natalia Morozov said Navalny had also been a symbol of hope for her.

Navalny's wife, Yulia, was in Munich on Friday, where a vigil also took place.

She told the Munich Security Conference she could not be sure her husband was dead because "Putin and his government... lie incessantly".

Yulia said that if confirmed she wanted them to know "they will bear responsibility".

On the other side of the Atlantic, at a vigil outside the Russian consulate in New York City, Violetta Soboleva said she had volunteered for Navalny's presidential campaign in 2017.

"I really believed that he's the one and he can lead Russia to a better future," said Soboleva, a Russian studying for her doctorate in New York.

She continued: "And now we've lost this future forever."