US says Russia will be held accountable for fate of Navalny

The U.S. State Department said Friday that the international community will hold Russia accountable for “what happens” to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny “in their custody.”

“We have communicated to the Russian government that they are responsible for what happens to Mr. Navalny in their custody, and they will be held accountable by the international community,” a statement by a spokesperson for the State Department reads.

On Monday, a press secretary for Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the prisoner hadn’t been heard from in the six days before. Yarmysh also said he didn’t show up to court that day.

“This is already the sixth day since we don’t know where Alexey is or what’s happening to him,” Yarmysh said.

The White House has expressed its concerns about the situation.

“He should be released immediately. He should never have been jailed in the first place,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. “We’re going to work with our embassy in Moscow to see how much more we can find out.”

In their statement, the spokesperson for the State Department also said the U.S. “strongly condemns Russia’s continued malicious targeting of Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and the more than 600 other political prisoners Russia continues to unjustly detain.”

“We will continue to follow their cases closely and call for the release of all who are unjustly detained,” the spokesperson said.

In 2021, Navalny was imprisoned on a nine-year sentence for charges including fraud and contempt of court. This year, he was sentenced to 19 more years for extremism charges.