EU President expresses grief at jailed Kremlin critic Navalny's death, says "Grim reminder of what Putin..."

Rome [Italy], February 16 : European Union President Ursula von der Leyen condoled the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and said that Russian President Vladimir Putin fears nothing more than dissent of his people.
Expressing grief on his death, she urged people to unite in a fight to safeguard the freedom and safety of people who oppose 'autocracy'.
"Deeply disturbed and saddened by news of the death of Alexei Navalny. Putin fears nothing more than dissent from his own people. A grim reminder of what Putin and his regime are all about. Let's unite in our fight to safeguard the freedom and safety of those who dare to stand up against autocracy," she posted on X.
https://x.com/vonderleyen/status/1758472254030074014?s=20
Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has died, the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets Region, where he had served his sentence, reported on Friday afternoon, RT News agency reported.
The 47-year-old began to feel unwell after a walk, and lost consciousness, according to a statement. Russian media outlets have indicated that doctors pronounced Navalny dead after 2 pm local time.
"All the necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but they failed to achieve a positive result," the authorities outlined.
"Medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called. Resuscitation measures were carried out which did not yield positive results. Paramedics confirmed the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established," the prison statment read.
On the occasion of New Year this January, he had sent out a message on social media stating that he does not feel lonely and is in a "great" mood, but he still misses spending time with his family and friends in person.
In a New Year's Eve message posted on social media by his team, Navalny was quoted as saying that this will be the third time "I have taken the traditional family New Year's Eve photo with Photoshop."
"I am trying to keep up with the times, and this time I asked an artificial intelligence to draw me. I hope it turned out something fantastic - I will not see the picture myself until the letter with it arrives on Yamal," Navalny had said, according to CNN.
At that time, he was serving his term at the Russian Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region's IK-3 prison colony.
Navalny has been behind bars since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Prior to his arrest, he campaigned against corruption and organised major anti-Kremlin protests. He has since received three prison terms and spent months in isolation in Penal Colony Number 6 for alleged minor infractions.
A court extended Navalny's sentence to 19 years on "extremism" charges and ruled that he be moved to a more secure, harsher prison.
Notably, Navalny had, time and again rejected all charges against him as politically motivated.