‘I Am Your New Santa Claus,’ Imprisoned Russian Dissident Alexei Navalny Quips, Resurfacing at an Arctic Prison Colony
‘I don’t say ‘Ho-ho-ho,’ but I do say ‘Oh-oh-oh’ when I look out of the window,’ the opposition later jokes, ‘where I can see night, then the evening, and then the night again.’
MOSCOW — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Tuesday released a sardonic statement about his transfer to a Arctic prison colony nicknamed the “Polar Wolf,” his first appearance since associates lost contact with him three weeks ago.
Mr. Navalny, the most prominent and persistent domestic foe of President Putin, is serving a 19-year sentence on an extremism conviction. He had been incarcerated in central Russia’s Vladimir region, about 140 miles east of Moscow, but supporters said he couldn’t be found beginning on December 6.
Authorities said Monday that Mr. Navalny had been traced to a prison colony infamous for severe conditions in the Yamalo-Nenets region, about 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow.
“I am your new Santa Claus,” Mr. Navalny said in a tweet, referring to his location above the Arctic Circle at the prison at the town of Kharp.
The region is notorious for long and severe winters. The town is about 60 miles from Vorkuta, whose coal mines were among the harshest of the Soviet Gulag prison-camp system.
Mr. Navalny, who is noted for sharply humorous comments, said he was in a good mood after being transported to the new prison, but suggested the northern winter darkness is discouraging: “I don’t say ‘Ho-ho-ho,’ but I do say ‘Oh-oh-oh’ when I look out of the window, where I can see night, then the evening, and then the night again.”
Prisoner transfers in Russia often result in contact with inmates being lost for weeks. Mr. Navalny’s supporters contend the transfer was arranged to keep the dissident out of sight amid Mr. Putin’s announcement that he will run for another term as president in the March election.
Mr. Navalny has been behind bars in Russia since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests.
The Putin critic has since received three prison terms and spent months in isolation in Penal Colony Number 6 for alleged minor infractions. He has rejected all charges against him as politically motivated.
