Navalny's team claims opposition leader has disappeared from Russian prison system

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is currently unaccounted for after he disappeared from the Russian prison system, his team reported to Reuters.

According to the complaint, Nalvalny was taken from the penitentiary where he had been held since last year without prior notice.

Aides to Putin's opponent said they were preparing for a transfer to a "special regime" colony, the highest level in the Russian prison system, after the politician was sentenced to 19 more years in prison in August; however, the move took them by surprise.

"We don't know where he is right now. He can be in any colony of special regime, and there are about around 30 of them in Russia, all over Russia," Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told Reuters. "We will try to go to all the colonies there and look for him."

The spokeswoman explained that they learned of Navalny's transfer after his lawyer visited the IK-6 facility in Melekhovo, 235 kilometers east of Moscow, where staff reported that the Russian leader was no longer among the inmates.

According to Reuters, the process of transferring prisoners, which is done by rail, can take weeks due to Russia's vast territory.

Typically, when the prisoner is en route to their new destination, relatives and friends cannot obtain information about the prisoner's condition. Therefore, it is unknown whether Navalny is currently on his way to his new prison.

Navalny became, in recent years, the most revered Russian opposition figure in the West, especially after he suffered a poisoning attempt and was imprisoned by the Putin regime.

Apropos of the allegation, the United States expressed concern about Navalny's physical condition.

"He should be released immediately. He should never have been imprisoned in the first place," said John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman.