MOSCOW (RUSSIA) – Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is sharing a quarantine cell in central Russia, said allies on Wednesday. This disclosed his location for the first time after being moved from jail in Moscow last week to serve a 2-1/2 year sentence in a penal colony.
The whereabouts of Navalny, 44, had not been known since he left jail in Moscow.
His lawyer Vadim Kobzev told he had met Navalny at the Kolchugino jail in the Vladimir region northeast of Moscow. According to him, Navalny was was feeling good in spite of hardship, Kobzev said.
TASS news agency, citing a law enforcement source, said Navalny was being held there for the purpose of quarantine before being further transported to the IK-2 penal colony, also in the Vladimir region. It said that the quarantine could last 15 days.
On his twitter feed, Kobzev said Navalny was sharing the cell with two others. However, he continued to be under isolation from the outside world with no letters.
“There is nothing in the cell except a TV set. There is no refrigerator or even a tea-kettle.”
Activists have viewed conditions in the penal colony as mainly severe.
Navalny’s illness and imprisonment has fuelled a diplomatic conflict between Russia and the West.