Alexei Navalny, Russia’s opposition leader, is missing in the gulag

The last time the world heard from Alexei Navalny was on December 7th, when Russia’s most important opposition leader, who has been sentenced to 19 years in jail on various trumped-up charges (a term which could be extended to 30 years on new terrorism charges), announced a campaign to discredit Vladimir Putin’s re-election as president. On that day, a post from Mr Navalny appeared on X (formerly Twitter): “The presidential elections will take place on March 17, 2024…We encourage everyone to use the 100 days before the vote to fight against Putin and his power.”