The loss of contact with Alexei Navalny at the prison colony where the opposition leader was being held likely signals a Kremlin effort to tighten his isolation while President Vladimir Putin runs for reelection over the next three months, Navalny's spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Worries about Navalny spread Monday after officials at the facility east of Moscow said he was no longer on the inmate roster. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said his associates and lawyers have been unable to contact him for a week. Prison officials said he has been moved from the colony where he has been serving a 19-year term on charges of extremism, but they didn’t say where he went.
