Concern Grows Over Missing Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls for Navalny's immediate release amid fears of his transfer to a harsher prison.

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'.